Big Island, Hawaii: Beach time

After a couple of days at Volcano National Park, it was time to head down to the town of Kona on the west coast for some beach time.

When you’re the only adult on a trip, you do all the driving and planning, and the only time to sketch might be while you wait for your food.

Or, you could let the kids get into the water and spend a bit of time sketching before joining them. People sketching on the beach is fun, there’s so much to draw. And so many shades of skin to paint from “This is the first day of my vacation” pale to “should’ve sunblocked more often” and everything in between.

I had to sketch at least one farmers market on my trip. A thunderstorm hit minutes after I started this sketch. The flower stall was under a tarp, so I was fine except that a little river formed on the floor of the market and I stood ankle-deep in it while I painted these bird-of-paradise and lobster-claw plants.

Here’s a quick sketch of the skies getting darker as the rains come in.

And one last sketch of downtown Kona at sunset on our last evening there.

What do I miss the most about Hawaii? The warm weather, the tropical vegetation, falling asleep to the sound of the ocean, and the amazing seafood, especially the poke.