Thanks to those who came out to ArtWalk!

Thank you to all of those folks who braved the heat and raging water at ArtWalk a few weekends back. It was a successful weekend and I really enjoyed talking with all of you. I've already signed up for next year, so mark your calendars for April 25th and 26th, 2009. I think the water mains are scheduled for an overhaul this year, so perhaps 2009 will lack the excitement of water flowing through the streets!

Here are a couple of sketches I've done since ArtWalk while relaxing at Torrey Pines.

Sand and Surf, Torrey Pines Beach, 6 x 8, oil on linen panel



Torrey Pines from Torrey Pines Beach, 6 x 8, oil on linen panel

Torrey Pines - Solitary

A while back I took some reference photos of Torrey Pines State Reserve. I enhanced the lighting effects and distance in this painting- so that it was more as I remembered it. Sometimes the camera fools us- one way is that it just can't capture all of the light and dark values that our eyes see, so the darks are black and the lights are white. This is when the experience of painting outdoors helps. I know the shadows aren't black and I use that in my painting. I'm not sure if that comes across in the painting's photo, though- it's the camera thing again.