Ice Cream Man

A major attraction at our beach is the arrival of the truck with the ice cream man. There is a rapid migration up from the beach with the little ones leading the way. I think that he schedules an appearance twice a day. This is from memory and done in acrylic.

Beach at Sayulita

Viewed from our house on the hill, the waves were rolling onto the main beach of Sayulita, Mexico.  In the late afternoon it attracts a bunch of surfers.  They were out there, but seen as just black spots on the water, so I did not try to paint them into the scene.  The far away hills look lonely when seen during the day, but when the lights come on at night, there are plenty of homes tucked into the greenery.

Surfers

On the beaches of Sayulita, Mexico, painting was part of my vacation.  Lots of winter people from cold areas were soaking up the sun rays and the surf was up.  Surfers were of all ages including some very young, around 5-6yrs of age.  A big advantage to surfing here is the closeness of the surf.  It saves a lot of paddling.

Painting was fun with lots of comments from people.  It appears from our conversations that many artists travel without their painting supplies.  Could that be?  Some complain that taking paints means packing another bag and checking it because it won't pass security.  I have heard of this.  Anyway, I am happy to have my paints and something to do, especially when visiting a new place.

Heart's Desire Beach, Inverness, CA

This is a nice state park at Point Reyes, CA.  We arrived early with no one in sight and started painting.  Soon, the beach filled up with picnickers, swimmers and party goers. The trees close to the beach are laden with moss which hangs down.  A few sailboats anchored off shore and we met some boaters who live on board and home school the kids.  But, it all started off very serene with a blue sky that did not have a cloud in it. 

Sails on the Lake

Spent the morning with Mikey and his watercolor class.  Resuscitated this scene from a black and white print that he had.  Lots of good pointers.

Tidal Pools

The sun has not shown for the past 4 days in northern California and it is 25 degrees below normal. This means painting in the studio. This painting gave me a chance to paint some figure gestures and their reflections in the water. I played with a lot of things but was totally immersed in seeing what was developing. A painting paints itself if given the chance. My white edge to the rocks became driftwood pushed to the side of the beach.
Maybe tomorrow, there will be sunshine on my shoulder.