The Fruit Cart

 This is one of my favorite watercolors from the many months of painting at home.  During those months the plein air painting groups didn't schedule any paint-outs.  We painted near home or from photos.  

Over these past months we had some "porch visits" from our daughter.   She's become an avid cyclist and shared some photos on one visit.  The photos were from a weekend cycling trip to the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, north of Santa Barbara.  Cycling near Solvang she said she really needed some nourishment, some refreshment.  She was thrilled to see this fruit cart sort of in the middle of nowhere.  I was thrilled to see such a great photo which inspired a watercolor.

6" x 8" Watercolor

  

David Taylor Workshop!

This month I was able to attend a workshop with David Taylor in Santa Barbara, California.  I had been looking forward to this for a long time and I wasn't disappointed.  Meeting David and watching him paint was such a treat.  David painted two demos a day for the 5-day workshop and each piece captures the feel of Santa Barbara.  And I must say Santa Barbara looked stunning, every building perfectly adding to the ambiance.  I found David's way of teaching to be very helpful and he was so generous to us with his time and expertise.  

Our first morning was a little overcast and we were on the beach, painting two different views following David's demos, morning and afternoon.  Painting on the beach was a new experience for me and trying to paint two pieces a day is a push.  On Tuesday we met at the marina and David painted two gorgeous demo pieces.  But for me, boats and water, I need more practice on those two subjects!  I won't finish the two pieces I started.  We were up in the tower at the landmark courthouse building on Wednesday.  We painted street views Thursday and Friday.  Thursday, late evening, we were lucky to have the opportunity to watch David paint a night scene.  Wow, so interesting to see how he went about it.  

I hope I will be able to take another workshop from David sometime.  The week was a valuable experience and I look forward to applying what I learned.  It's difficult to paint something wonderful in a workshop, but here are three of my pieces and some fun photos...

8 x 10" Watercolor,  Santa Barbara Mission on the hill

Santa Barbara courthouse tower where we painted 

Our first day, setting up - Leadbetter Beach

8 x 10" Watercolor

 

David painting in the courthouse tower

8 x 10" Watercolor

The nocturne

Workshops!

My watercolorist friend in the UK, Laura Moore, mentioned on Facebook that she's taking her first workshop this week.  That brought back thoughts of the first watercolor workshop I took which was one year ago.  Laura said in her post that she's nervous.  I was very nervous too, knew I'd be the worst in the class, etc.  But it turned out to be so much fun, I learned a lot, and I made some friends at the workshop that I still see at local watercolor events.

Andy Evansen from Minnesota taught the workshop.  I was so lucky to find out about it and get one of the last spots.  I knew of Andy's beautiful watercolors from his postings on Facebook so when I heard about the class in my area I signed up.

I'll share one of the paintings I did in the class.  It's from a photo of mine shot at Lotusland in Montecito, CA.  A year later, I would paint this differently I think.  Andy taught us to paint a value study (using Payne's Gray) as a first step before starting a painting, and he did the same before each of his demos.  Must say, a value painting or sketch really helps with planning the values, and I don't consistently do that.  I'll share a couple photos of Andy, one with his really nice value study.  Since the workshop was in Long Beach, one day after class we walked to a nearby marina so we could watch Andy paint a plein air piece.  Even though the sun was going down quickly he took the time to paint a value study.  I hope I can take another class from Andy sometime.

         

Farmer's Markets

Do you love farmer's markets?  I do, and we just returned from the Thursday South Pasadena market.  I get overwhelmed with all the wonderful produce choices.  I also love to take photos of all the colorful activity and unusual views.  I've painted two watercolors of farmer's markets that I'll share today.  I'm also posting a few favorite market photos that might inspire future paintings.

This piece was painted in the first watercolor workshop I took.  It was October 2011 and fabulous watercolor artist Andy Evansen was the instructor.  I would love to take another class from Andy now that I've had more practice.  This is the South Pasadena farmer's market.  Following the painting is a snapshot I took today at the same market.

I painted this watercolor in April for a challenge in a Facebook group I'm in.  The challenge theme was "edible".  My photo reference for this was taken at the Santa Barbara market in 1997.  So I never know when the opportunity to use a photo might come up!  This painting was certainly a challenge with the veggies, people, and perspective.  Below it is a photo from the same market that I took a few weeks ago.  I wish I could go to that spectacular market every week but it's 100 miles away.  Lastly is a photo from the Alhambra farmer's market that I AM able to go to every week!