The dogs beach

After thinking about what Lin was saying on her blog about sketching vs. painting, I realized that I missed doing pen and ink with watercolor washes. So I set off this morning to do just that. I love the step away from the finished product looking photo realistic, don't get me wrong, my jaw drops as quick as the next persons when I see art work that is so real looking it comes off the page. However, I really like impressionistic art.

This beach is where I take my dogs to run. It's about 5 miles from my home so we come here at least 3 times a week. I'm sitting in a parking lot at the far end of the beach looking toward where we usually stop and hike. There are lots of tide pools and drift wood and usually drifts of mist and fog.

Forest Path

I'm going to try to get back into the habit of "a painting a day". I've missed Blogging and painting. I've had a bit of trouble getting my paint brush back in my hand without Donna's voice cheering me on from the side lines.

I wish I could paint sound into a picture. This painting is from a walk I took with my dogs yesterday afternoon; just out the edge of the forest, on down the hill, is the ocean. All the way down I could hear the sound of the breaking surf getting louder. The forest sounds were muffled by all of the thick undergrowth.

My scanner isn't going to happen so it's photos of the paintings for now. The quality isn't the same but it does the trick.

I had the "happy accident" of ordering the "wrong" size sketch book the last time I ordered. I ordered 9"X12" instead of my regular 6X9...Opps! It works out much better because I am always trying to cram too much detail into too small of a page!

Life doesn't always work out the way you think it will

Hi All,

Last month was a very difficult month, I lost one of my closest friends, Donna in a tragic motorcycle accident. Not only was she one of my muses and supports for my art but she was also a fellow gardener and just a great friend! In the aftermath of the loss I found myself wanting some down time just to put my life back into perspective.

I should be up and running with a scanner shortly so getting back to posting on my blog soon.