Hike and Sketch in Uvas Canyon Park with Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society

"Basin Falls"

Micron Pen

"Trail on the Mountainside"

Micron Pen

"Trailside Waterfall"

Graphite

Yesterday I spent a delightful day in Uvas Canyon Park, just 9 miles from my house, with members of the watercolor society. This was an impromptu plein air session and there were just four of us, but we had a lovely time hiking the waterfalls. The newspaper recently featured the park, noting that with winter rains the falls are especially beautiful. I would guess that by fall they are a mere trickle. We sketched at several of them in lovely spring weather, which required modest layers in the dappled sunshine of the wooded areas.

I almost didn't go, but a call from Jenny, one of our leaders, put me over the edge. I couldn't resist. Unfortunately, I didn't give much thought to art materials, nor did I bring my small canvas stool, so I had to sit on the ground and draw with pen, charcoal, or graphite. The others all had their small watercolor sets and did such lovely work. These sketches don't do justice to the beauty of the park, though I could use them as reference in developing a painting. Check out Sylvia's blog for the work she completed yesterday: http://pleinairmuse.blogspot.com/

You might like to know more about the falls in the park. Read about them here: http://www.waterfallswest.com/waterfall.php?id=343

One cute aside: I chuckled to myself at Black Rock Falls when I mentally pictured the thoughts of a young couple that worked their way up the steep side of the trail to see the falls, startled to find four women with stools and painting gear working away. I got home just in time to clean the kitchen and sit on the patio of El Amigo Restaurant for dinner with Bob before entertaining my Thursday night art group in my home.