Summer Pastels - Neary Lagoon - Class #2 - 7/15/17

Neary Lagoon - 7.15.17 - Pastel Class #2

We painted on-site at Neary's Lagoon in Santa Cruz. It was a very hot day and we were in the full sun for 3.5 hours. This study examines how to paint water and tule marsh areas. I plan to work more on this painting and will add in some ducks or a crane. Click on the image to view a larger version. It's a bit out-of-focus.

Summer Pastels - New Brighton Beach - Class #1 - 7/8/17

New Brighton Beach, Capitola, CA

I'm taking a summer pastel class with artist, Ann Thiermann. We will visit various 'water' sites around Santa Cruz County - ocean, rivers, lagoon scenes. In our first class, we visited New Brighton State Beach. It was a typical beautiful day in Capitola. Above is my in-progress painting of that site. The paper color was a medium grey, and I discovered I need a few more light-valued pastels. It was high-tide and there were a few boats and stand-up paddle boarders in the water. Quite a busy day at the beach.

Sketch for Assignment 1 Still Life

Here is a sketch I did of some apples from the orchard by my house. I used this as the basis for the painting #1.