Spring is still here, and I’m stepping out more often.
This little bridge across the Guadalupe River in North San Jose is on a trail I’ve never walked,(I almost said hiked. I’ve developed this very Californian habit of calling any little walk I go on a hike. ) though I spent years living right by it. Glad I had friends who wanted to paint there. When it’s too hot to paint most places this summer, I’ll be back to sit in this shady spot and paint the dappled shadows.
And these poppies by a pasture with horses (spot the horses?) is only 10 minutes from home. I’m returning there too, before the poppies fade away.
Are you, like me, starting to draw outside more than you did in the last year? Any challenges that come up from a practice that may have been dormant for a while?
EDIT: A few of you asked how I start these sketches. I think about what my story is before I start. This helps me determine my composition and also where my most saturated colors and detail will go. So while all of the first pass on the poppies sketch (below) is loose, you can see already where I’l be adding more detail.
Does that help?
Sketch Away: Travels with my sketchbook 