My postcard

This is the postcard I sent out to Deborah. I did the circles with a grape theme to practice the technique. See my blog for other practice pieces.  It was a fun technique.  After dry, I added a couple of tendrils and spattered some small droppings onto a wet surface from my watercolor pencils. 

Chili Peppers

I finished my chili peppers.  I like the gold accent across the page.  It seems to enhance the shadows of the peppers.  Now when I look at things, I look for the shadows.

Me week at Land Meets Sea camp with Jennifer

As you guys all know, I was in Long Beach all week with Jennifer and Randy. She was participating in an outdoor adventure program through the rehab hospital she goes too. It was an amazing week of water skiing, jet skiing, fishing, rock climbing, a Luau, sailing etc. I was so busy I didn't get much sketching done, too tired. Here is my seadoo, done one the pier while waiting for her to return from skiing. I noticed that my paper always felt damp in the marine layer and the sun was not coming out until the afternoon each day. I meant for some dreary paintings.
A little lesson here. If you notice my water you will see it is dark green and a small amount of blue with mostly white showing through. When the sun is shining on water it is very reflective and there will be alot of white reflections. The water also reflects the sky so if its a gray day then the water is going to be gray too. I added blue since it was so yucky in person! The choppier the water, or the more movement the water has the more white areas or reflective spots will appear in a broken pattern, that shows the movement of the water. In the case of a still lake you would get almost mirror reflections and smoother light areas. Remember, this is about learning to see, to really look and see as an artist. Most people never notice these types of things as they pass through life. We are blessed to have a more keen sense of color and details since we record them in our sketches and paintings. Take the time this month to look at water if you get the chance and to practice on shadows.
The sketch class was all about shadows this month, video coming soon!

Postcard Exchange

The first postcard I received is from Desiree - using the negative painting technique - BEAUTIFUL - I am hand delivering mine to her tomorrow.

pjh-Fresh Rasberries and Blackberries

Had breakfast out on the back deck another morning - more delicious local raspberries and blackberries

pjh-Looking for black bears on Prince William Island

We flew in a small sea plane out to Prince William Island - and found this momma and her cub. Our pilot was doing pylon turns around this peak several times to get a good look and a few pictures. There were also 4 sitka black tail deer on this peak.

pjh-Enjoying summer's bounty of fruit

For breakfast on the first morning of our Alaskan cruise!