Thumbnail sketches

I have had the pleasure of two weeks of vacation from school. I worked on two acrylic paintings (12" x 16"), but they aren't quite finished, so I won't post them yet.  I also went to the coast every chance I got and painted small sketches in my sketchbook. One particularly beautiful day, I was on Blind Beach with my wife. There was a very low tide that afternoon, so we were able to walk the entire length of the beach. We found a large number of beautiful shells, and I decided to start sketching them in my sketchbook. 

Sketchbook Skyscapes

Work and chores have left no real time for painting lately. However, I have been noticing the beautiful sky as I drive home each day. I decided that even when I don't have time to work on a canvas at my easel, I still have time to do some quick watercolors of the dramatic Sonoma County skies in my sketchbook. 

Lola paints!

My friend Lola, who lives in Madrid, came to spend the week of Thanksgiving with me. We hadn't seen each other in 20 years! I gave her a travel watercolor box, not knowing if she would be excited or would have no interest. She was excited. We spent two days that week in San Francisco, and while there decided to take a boat tour of the bay. Before the tour, we stopped at a bar near Pier 45 that had an amazing view of the bay. We had a beer, and Lola completed her first painting. 

Watercolor sketch

Two days ago, I experimented with painting in watercolor in my sketchbook after first putting down a layer of white gesso. I did this in order to smooth out the surface of the handmade paper a bit. I used my small travel watercolor kit while at the library to paint this picture of Armstrong Woods Park. I had been there with my wife the previous evening to watch the sunset. As we drove away, we saw the moon in the distance.