Finished this one today! I started the final stretch by creating some "sky holes" in the tree foliage and breaking up the masses.

I used some inexpensive new brushes: a synthetic filbert and a bright. I'm finding that these Taklon and nylon brushes are ideal for acrylics as they glide across the panel and enable soft edges.

The recent rain has caused an explosion of wildflowers in California. Yesterday, we decided to take a day trip to Carrizo Plain National Monument, just east of San Luis Obispo. The swaths of gold were truly spectacular. I sketched the blooms near the salt encrusted Soda Lake. M. took a photo of me as I was working.



I sketched this on Bee Paper's Super Deluxe Mixed Media sketchbook, which has been recommended by several sketchers as a good, reasonably priced workhorse surface. While I've been happy drawing on Bee's Pen Sketcher's paper, the Mixed Media one just isn't my jam for ink & watercolor work. Its weight and tooth feel more suited to dry media.

Glad that a fellow artist has resurrected the long-neglected South Bay Plein Air Meetup group. Yesterday there were three of us at Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos. Since I was squeezing this session in between errands and appointments, I chose to do a quick painting in gouache on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch toned paper. The sun was hot and climbing, so the paint dried almost instantly. The whole thing took less than an hour from setup to signature.

My paintings of the hills behind our house are done and framed and up on the wall!



Golden Open acrylic on canvas. Really pleased with the gold floater frames from PictureFrames.com. Here's how they look in the room.

It's a wrap. Started out with sketches after breakfast at the office cafe.



Continued through the messy commuter hour.



Ended with the grooves of Open Mic Night at Hub's Cafe.





Thanks Marc and Liz for this fantastic challenge!

Switched to a Stillman & Birn sketchbook as I ran out of pages in the Bee Pen Sketcher's book I was using before.





Just 23 to go!

For today's installment of the #OneWeek100People2017 challenge, I sketched women, in celebration of International Women's Day.

I've now completed 52 sketches for #OneWeek100People2017! Drawing people makes you notice the characters all around you.

Today's haul: 25 sketches done in the #OneWeek100People2017 challenge! Lots of commuters on (or awaiting) various modes of transport: train, bus, light rail.

Move over Inktober. Here comes a mad March challenge from Marc Taro Holmes and Liz Steel: Draw 100 people in one week! That's ~20 people a day, starting ... tomorrow!

I warmed up yesterday by playing with my latest digital toy: the Adonit Pixel stylus on my iPad Air 2, using the app Adobe Sketch. I find Adobe Sketch to be more intuitive than Procreate, possibly because I'm familiar with Photoshop, and the stylus seems to play well with it.



Want to join? Find some people. Sketch. Share on social media with the hashtag #OneWeek100People2017. I'll be posting here, on Instagam, and elsewhere.

I'm delighted to have been juried into this year's Los Gatos Plein Air event. More than 30 invited artists will be painting in and around Los Gatos, California, from June 13-16, with a public sale and festival on Saturday, June 17. I'm excited and more than a little nervous to be in the company of such artists as Donald Neff, Mark Monsarrat, Marti Walker, and Suzi Long!



In past years, artists have generally been allowed to paint within a 15-mile radius of Los Gatos, so I've been using some mapping tools to see what's in the area. Last Sunday I walked around downtown Los Gatos, and this weekend I hiked in Almaden Quicksilver County Park, which has some great views of the surrounding hills. I'm excited to figure out my "shot list" of what I'll paint over the four days of the event.

Last weekend, the skies cleared just in time for the Urban Sketchers 10x10 Bay Area launch event. We started off with a quick sketch at Mission Bay with the SF Sketchers (who were celebrating their 5th anniversary).



Then it was on to Arch Art & Drafting Supply, where we noshed on finger foods, shopped, and heard from the workshop instructors. We ended the day at Thee Parkside, where we sketched over drinks and a late lunch.

There are still spots left in the workshops -- learn more and sign up.

It's been raining a lot here in California this winter, so we outdoor sketchers do what we can. We sketch indoors, even from television if necessary.



And sometimes there is a break in the clouds, so we take advantage of it. Even on a weekday, on the way to work.

Interested in learning about urban sketching or sharpening your skills? Check out Urban Sketchers' 10x10 -- a series of workshops around the world to celebrate the nonprofit's 10th anniversary.

Here in the Bay Area, you can take workshops from ten awesome artists throughout 2017. Sign up for as many as you like. They're just 3 hours each -- perfect for busy schedules.

The workshop I'm teaching is in San Jose on June 24, titled Putting the "urban" in urban sketching. We'll draw what we see around us and have some fun incorporating signage, textures, and found materials into our sketchbook pages. So excited!











If you'd like to know more, stop by and see us at the 10x10 launch party on Saturday, February 11. The event starts off with a sketching meet-up at San Francisco’s Mission Creek Park Pavilion at noon. At 1:30 pm, we'll head over to Arch, where we'll introduce the instructors and the workshops. You'll get a chance to meet and mingle with all the artists and register for the classes.

Learn more about the workshops and how to sign up here.

This past Sunday, at San Francisco International Airport.







When there is lack of imagination at the highest levels, it is vital for our democracy that we support the arts. So sing. Dance. Draw. And share, and show the world.

Was in Monterey this week for a conference, so I went off to sketch before breakfast each morning.

Last weekend, I challenged myself to paint close to home. As in right outside my door! I'm really enjoying water-soluble oils for plein air work. This was painted with Winsor & Newton Artisan oils on a small gessoed panel.

We drove down to LA over MLK Jr. weekend to escape the deluge here in the Bay Area.

To pass time before a dinner reservation, I decided to get my hair cut and ended up sketching Oyuna, the owner/master stylist at New Look Salon as she worked on another customer. I like what she did with my hair.



The next day, we had breakfast overlooking the ocean in Rancho Palos Verdes. I was hoping to see tidepools at Abalone Cove Shoreline Park, but we didn't find any.



On the way home on Monday, we stopped in Santa Monica. I set up my Strada easel and painted the thick clouds above the ubiquitous beach volleyball nets.

Still searching for tidepools (no luck), we paused at Carpinteria State Beach near Santa Barbara. I sketched the people walking along the sand.

I didn't do a lot of sketching over the break. It was a whirlwind of family and friends in three states.



But it was really good to be back on the other coast. And to have my usual blueberry rooibos tea at our favorite cafe, Lorca, in Stamford, CT.