Plein Air (4 of 4)

Here's the last painting from the 2nd North Bay Plein Air Session. Starting at St. Vincent's Church, we planned to end the day by painting the Old St. Mary's Church in Nicasio (just passed Skywalker Ranch). But due to a large event, no parking was to be found and there were far too many vehicles blocking the entrance of the Church.

So we drove a bit further to the Nicasio Resvoir, where we pulled over and found a spot off the road to set up and paint. It was already 4:00pm, the heat died down and the cool breeze rolled in. We spent about an hour painting and called it a day.

(gouache in sketchbook)

Plein Air (3 of 4)

Here's an attempt to move out to the front of St. Vincent's and to actually start painting the church. There was a baptism event happening at the same time so many visitors stopped by my set up to say "hello". I got a few funny comments like, "hey, you're a lefty".

This is not complete due to the sun moving and causing me to do the moon-walk until I no longer had shade. I'll definitely return to complete and start another painting from another angle.

(gouache in sketchbook)

Plein Air (2 of 4)

This is one of the many halls at St. Vincent's Church. The lighting was really nice and overlooked the huge patio and fountain. Although the fountain was on my list to paint, it was just too far from any shaded area.

(gouache in sketchbook)

Plein Air (part 1 of 4)

Last weekend, I met up with 2 other painters at St. Vincent's Church in Marin. I decided to try a medium I haven't touched since art school...gouache! Most of you probably recall the weather reaching the high 90's on Sunday. So finding a shaded area to set up was key. Here's the view behind the church and what seems to be the San Pablo Bay.

(gouache in sketchbook)

Metamorphica (part 3 of 3)

(Watercolor, micron and brush pens)

(Watercolor, micron and brush pens)

These were painted on postcard sized watercolor paper (140 lb Cold Press) by Strathmore. Unfortunately, I lost track of time and tried to squeeze in one more towards the last 5 minutes of this pose.

Metamorphica (part 2 of 3)

After warming up in my sketchbook, I decided to try my hand at painting on ATC's (Artist trading cards) that measured 2"x3". Each card was taped down, creating a nice quarter inch border all around. I worried about the cards curling, so light watercolor washes were appropriate. I have to say that I'm really surprised neither of these cards curled when completed!Three to five models were shown at a time, giving a great mixture of quick gesture poses and one long pose. I had to decided quickly...which one to draw?

Metamorphica (part 1 of 3)

A handful of us had a chance to lock in a spot for this month's "Metamorphica" costume/life drawing session at the SF Bus Stop Gallery. Seats filled up rather quickly. Check out the vibe!

Here's a couple scans from my sketchbooks.(watercolors, brush pens in Fabriano sketchbook)

(Micron and Brush pens with a splash of watercolor)