Rocks

I ventured from my favorite watercolor painting to trying some acrylics.  It is a big adjustment for me but because they dry so fast, there is a way to complete the painting in one sitting.  This is a large painting (20X16) but I thought that I would leave it at stages and work on it as I saw fit.  This is not something that I do with watercolor.

One Tree Hill

Painted yesterday at the Rominger farm in Winters, CA.  We were taken to a hill that overlooked the entire world.  It was spectacular.  The hills were like huge moguls and were green from the the recent rain.  One can look across the vista to the city of Sacramento (just behind the tree on the hill).  It was a bird's eye view.  I had an urge to ride a motorcycle across all of these wonderful cushy hills similar to skiing down a mountain.

The Yacht Club

Plein air painting was difficult due to the wind.  I have not painted for months on San Francisco Bay and was anxious to get back there.  We went to Tiburon, found a close parking spot, and set up for painting.  It wasn't long before an easel blew over and then another painters paper flew off the easel. Nothing landed in the water.  The sun was warm and brilliant but that wind kept gusting.  Wind is the most difficult condition to deal with when out painting.  We could not shield ourselves from the wind gusts.

I did no sketching but set up and painted quickly.  This is a much edited scene from what was out there. Probably, that was fortunate, since I was done in an hour.  I will need to return since there were so many things I wanted to paint.

Sayulita Morning Rush

I set my easel up at the entrance to town.  Sayulita Mexico is a beehive of activity around 9AM.  Shop keepers are opening up and bus passengers are arriving over the bridge that leads into town.  There is wonderful color along with the activity.  Despite the activity, no one is frenetic.  Plenty stopped to talk and a few breakfasters moved over with their coffees to watch and chat.  It is just a great place to vacation and paint.

Street Vendor

My subject was setting up to sell his drinks when I started painting.  His space eventually became closed in as cars filled the open spaces before and after his cart.  He ended up really pinched in between two cars which greatly reduced his visability.  After he had his cups and drinks just right, he retired to a step in the shade up against a building, a good 10 feet away.  I'm not a business man, but this method of selling doesn't seem effective.  Of course, there is an inertia that overtakes one in the tropics.  It was a warm, humid morning in Sayulita; just the kind that attracts you to cold drinks.

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.

The Square

The center of town in Sayulita buzzes with activity.  It is colorful in the Mexican tradition.  There is a small park in the center and I set up on the banking along the sidewalk.  It did not stop people from climbing up to see what I was doing.  I love Mexico.