Our model yesterday wore a bright orange top that she wore pulled down from her shoulders. The orange was reflected on her skin but I never quite got a blue for the skin’s shadows that I really liked. I eventually tried some turquoise blue, which you see above.
I went to Sunset Cliffs with the Wednesday Painters today. It was a foggy morning and the sea color ranged from lavender to green, depending of the strength of the intermittent sunshine. There was a strong breeze and it felt like we were at sea. I wanted to capture this rolling, dynamic feeling in this plein air sketch.
I was finishing up a painting this morning at Coronado Beach when I noticed a man with a baby walking towards me. I was charmed by the way they were interacting and the way the man was carrying the child. I was able to get their outlines down before they passed me. Then I did my best to complete the sketch, pretty much using detail from other beachcombers.
I brought my marigolds inside and took my time arranging the composition. For color and shape contrast, I put the round orange flowers on a mostly blue striped tablecloth. Then I arranged the wrinkles in the stripes to counter the direction of the leaves. Finally, when I had it all just right, I painted it with gouache and ArtGraf.
Stores in San Diego have been full of marigolds in preparation for celebrating the Day of the Dead. I bought an especially large pot of them and put them on the deck. The yellow and orange are lovely against the browns of the wood and neighboring pots, and I was glad to have a chance to paint them today.
I saw a small child playing with a stick along the edge of the sea and quickly sketched her. She seemed to waving the stick around the water as though she were fishing, which makes sense because there were many people fishing nearby.
I liked how the child and the upper portion of the sketch turned out, but the lower portion bothered me until today when I wiped it out and redid it.
Although it has been hot in California lately, San Diego has sidestepped the worst of it so far. Even so, it has been really warm and this makes going to the beach very attractive.
