A Melon Monday

 

"Melon"

10" x 12" Pastel

 

 

Bob decided to go simple so we could really "dig into" the finer shading and rendering. Unfortunately, this photo is not quite true to the color and I am not that good at Photoshop. I really enjoyed this exercise. In less than three hours on a Monday, it's difficult to get to more than the basics on a more complex setup. So this gave us the opportunity to work on the melon surface.

Imagination at Work and a Nice Surprise

Recently I sent for some small canvases online that had no explanation of depth. I like to do my collages on canvases with 1.5 to 2 inches of return. These turned out to be just 3/4" return. So I decided to have some fun. I squirted some liquid acrylic paint onto the canvas and started smearing it. I then added more paint to vary the look and conjured up a scene of a garden. I wanted this to have a modern feel and did not worry about a lot of detail on the flowers. I plan to put this one in a floating frame.

An organization has purchased "Mountain Peonies" from viewing it on the blog. Every now and then that happens, and it feels really good,.

On the Road Again with Sketches

Coast Trail
9" x 5" watercolor sketch

"Standing on the Corner"
9" x 5"Watercolor Sketch

Foggy Day at Half Moon Bay

For my long-term blog friends, these scenes will look familiar. Bob attends a Flutes By The Sea Master Class in Half Moon Bay every July. This is his third year. I go along for the fun -- the B&B, the good restaurants, the quaint shops, the coastal trail rides on my bicycle, and the sketches I do with my tiny travel set. You can check out previous workshop experiences in 2014 and 2013. My favorite sketch from those trips is the greenhouses in 2013. This year we were there for 4 days.

I actually painted Foggy Day first. After dropping Bob at the workshop, I drove to a parking lot and sat on a wonderful bench over the sea. The following day I went to Pillar Point Harbor, but that was a more ambitious piece and not done yet. I took photos along the coast from my bike in the afternoon. The third day I rode my bike again to a bench and painted Coast Trail. You can probably guess that I amped up the color because the views are so beautiful that it seems that bright.

Standing on the Corner is just a cute scene on a corner near the B&B. Someone has done a very fun bench and I couldn't resist painting it. I did not attempt to do this plein air with traffic. Instead I worked from a photo on my phone. One of my friends really liked this one.