Meeting at 2nd and G

Painted in downtown Davis this morning before the stores opened and while there were plenty of parking spaces. All was quiet before 8AM and then the nail shop behind me opened and a lot of smells were in the air. Then the wonderful smell of baked bread and soon the coffee drinkers arrived. It is interesting to see the city awaken. The cleaning ladies are seated on the benches viewing their smart phones awaiting someone with a key to show. The trees are in bloom except the one in the foreground which is just starting. It is sunny and warm. There are long shadows with the rising sun. It is a challenge to edit this scene. There is so much signage and plenty of things on the walkway. Big trucks pull up and block the view as they unload kegs of beer but they are quick. Getting down a good sketch at the beginning is the secret to paint changing shadows and blocked out views.

Rainy Day Shopping

A make-believe down town street scene with shoppers under umbrellas.  Fun to sketch and paint.  This is a preliminary work for thoughts on a more realistic composition.  I will paint something recognizable such as a Davis City block and then put traffic and people into it.  When it is so cold outside, I sit with my sketch pad and try out some of these possibilities.

Can't wait for it to warm up for some outside plein air painting.

WELCOME

I have not blogged for the past month. Lots of travels, some computer glitches and other priorities. I have been painting and they have accumulated so I will post some this month. I'm on my Davis patch on the west coast. There is quite the contrast with life on Cape Cod. The tempo here is much more upbeat with students buzzing around and keeping the downtown busy. It feels energizing compared with the slow shuffle of the Cape. Both places work for me but I do like to be warm, so this is right for me now.