Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Sonoma Plein Air-Day 2

Tuesday dawned beautifully and I got going around 6:30. After driving around a while, I found this beautiful eucalyptus on a very quiet street. Many of the neighbors, including the owners of this tree, were very interested to see what I was up to. The only drawback was that the tree was completely lit by the sun. I do prefer backlit objects, but this couldn't be helped. It was a beautiful morning to paint.
We had lunch scheduled up Highway 12, so I headed over to the Pagani Barn, which was close to the lunch spot. The sun was now quite high overhead, so I had to use my umbrella for the first time. I was using pre-existing frame sizes this year, so I chose the largest of the group. This may have been a mistake. Due to the warmth and dryness the washes were drying very fast. Nonetheless I worked quickly and was fairly happy with the result.
I finished the barn with about an hour left before lunch. I overshot the driveway for lunch and turned around in the Kenwood Spa parking lot. I saw this wonderful vine covered building. After weighing the difficulty of painting in an hour, I decided to go for it. A nice little sketch.
After lunch I headed over to the Bartholomew Park winery, one of my favorite places. I scoped out the gazebo last year, so I headed over to it. The gazebo can be overwhelming, so I chose a piece of it, mostly featuring the beautiful trees and lawn around it. By this time, the fourth drawing of the day, I was getting a bit tired. At 5:30 the Quickdraw event started, so I headed home and shut my eyes for about fifteen minutes, before heading back to the Plaza for the Quickdraw.

2 comments:

  1. Really love the tranquil quality in your work! Very nice paintings, it's easy to see you've been at it for a long time..looking forward to meeting you one day...maybe you'll come to the annual at NWS this year?
    All the best
    frank

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  2. Thanks Frank. I'm hoping to go to NWS, but I'm completing a workshop with Alvaro Castagnet the Friday before. I don't know if I can get there in time after that. I'd really like to go, but... Regardless I hope we can hook up some time.

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