Jan 26, 27, 28

Went to a gorgeous beach yesterday, and Jen (who is much braver than me) did a piece en plein air………….that’s a fancy-schmancy French way of saying painting what you see while you are outdoors.

She chose a very challenging subject – a gnarled tree in the foreground, with surf (which is a really tricky thing to do) and sky in the background.  As usual, she did an awesome job.

I continued working on this one:

Over the next couple of days, I patiently (yes, ME, patiently!) painted little bits, setting it aside to let those bits dry completely, and then painting more little bits.  I’ve got to say that I am pretty dang proud of my own bad self over this painting.

This is a different style for me.  I first drew the scene in pencil, then re-drew it in indelible ink pen.  Only after that did I start painting.

While I was waiting for one bit to dry, I drew part of my lunch:

Jen did a Malasada.  I am ADDICTED to malasadas.  They are soft doughy sugar-coated fruit-filled doughnuts, and even just typing about them makes me drool.

She also practiced clouds, and did a dramatic sunset:

It’s crazy how difficult clouds are.  You’d think you’d just lay down some sky and leave some bits white – voila, clouds, right?  Yeah, not so much.  How about laying down sky and LIFTING the paint to make clouds?  Ha, as if…  Next time you’re outside, really look at the clouds and see just how many different shades of white, blue and gray you see………..

And lastly, she re-did the Palm-Husk-as-Umbrella in a smaller version for her journal.