The Fourth in Avalon - post one of four

So late last night I figured out a new way to sketch a composition!  Black sharpie on the plastic wrapping of a canvas works great!  Then I had to figure out how to carefully cut it off to preserve it and mount it on cardboard so I could see it ;-)

Oldies - not sure about "goodies"

Just a walk down memory lane because a friend asked me about these.  When I was in college studying engineering, we were required to sketch at least an hour a week with pencil on a big newsprint pad (oh, torture me ;-)

These are the only two that survived all the years, tattered and faded and wrinkled (gee, like me?) but like old friends reminding me of some good times gone by and some good friends I still hold dear.

Farm Girls

A sister painting to my last post!  I will call the tower Old Sentinel, but to me these are the Farm Girls.  Which? The barns, the palms?  You decide.  I love the way the morning sun was warming the barn sides and making the palms absolutely glisten!

McClellan Ranch Barn Tower

This is what is on my easel today!  True confessions, though - I've already changed it since this photo.  Now I'm not sure I like my changes!  I liked my distant trees on the upper left (which I wiped out =( but I do like the fact I have added indistinct foliage in the left foreground to obscure the left side of the fence.  It now draws the viewer in better..........stay tuned!  We'll see where it is when I pronounce it "done".

La Maison Cinque

And so, la maison cinque (at least that is what I think it is called) in Los Gatos is finally finished.  I did this plein aire piece many many months ago on site - what a beautiful home!  But I wasn't happy with the trees or the shadows, and so have just tonight finally had the opportunity to finish it and I am so pleased!

Dominic

Last fall in a weekly workshop, I was one day presented with a cow skull to sketch on the spot in vine charcoal.  A bit intimidating at first, I found him to be the most amazing, intricate, and inspiring piece of still life!  I got the proportions of his face correct and called it done.  "Dominic", as I named him, came home with me for the week.  I had never worked in pastel before (and not much since) but I dared to try him again - this time on a piece of grocery bag turned inside out.  That's him on the right.  I also took a lot of photos and started a life sized oil painting of him hanging on my back fence - yet to finish another time!  If anyone out there knows where to get a cow skull to keep, let me know  ;-)  They are great subjects!

Three Back Home

Three pieces back home now from a month at the Main Street Cafe Plein Aire show!  It was a great show, with many works to be admired and I was happy to be a participant!  First is the Kennedy Gold Mine, second is Ed Levin Park, and third is Sailing on the Bay.