When I took the photo I remember sitting on the side of the road thinking, "This wants to be a big painting." Well 9x15 inches isn't big, but it looks big.


I was cleaning and found a photo from a trip to Arizona and decided to tuck it in my sketch book. Yesterday was the day to wait for the doctor so I sketched this and then painted it. I know why doctors over book. It's so we can clean out our purses or get our sketching and painting done while waiting for them.
The bad news is I get more med’s, can't get over Bronchitis in a week I guess. The good thing is that when you are taking steroids you have more energy. I guess I will finish my veggie garden today.

Coyote Hills walking trail.

This is a stand of redwoods. It is unusual to have redwoods in this area, but there are a few and I am lucky to have taken the time to enjoy it. It is across the street from an area that is called Coyote Hills. Groups are fighting to keep this land natural instead of making it a neighborhood of homes, garages and sidewalks. I have seen so much of nature fall to structures and concrete.

Fullerton Hills

I am always fascinated by the play of light in nature. I have been passing this in the car and finally set aside some time to paint it. This field was in such brilliant light it burnt out these areas of silver grass so that the dark fir tree in the back became black in contrast to the bright green leaves of the new growth in the foreground tree.

NEIGHBORS HOUSE 163

Isn't this one cute? I love that it is the vine covered, white picket fence, cottage look. The last two houses have been this wonderful color that doesn’t show up in my computer. I tried using a different pigment this time to see if my scanner or camera could capture the manganese pigment better then the cobalt. Nope. Just doesn’t scan. It is a pale blue/green light grayed turquoisy celery kind of color. Well there you go I can’t make it the right color in words either.

NEIGHBORS HOUSE #13

This scan wasn't quite right but the sky is blue not green but the one below was closer to the original. You decide.




I painted this from the comfort of my car. The house is on a slight hill. Sitting at street level gave me the opportunity to look up at this cozy porch. Sometimes in the afternoon someone is sitting on the porch smoking. I saw the curtains move a few times checking on me, but no one came out. I wonder what the painting would be if I were sitting on the porch looking at the neighbors house across the street. The wonderful green got into the sky when I photographed it. It isn’t in the original painting.

NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE #15

I have seen this house change over the years. One of the interesting things that changed was the front yard. At first it was a rose garden with a walkway. When the owner wanted to sell they removed the rose garden and put in grass. When the new owners moved in they removed the grass and put in a larger driveway and put concrete everywhere. The next owners took out the large driveway and the concrete and put in a rose garden exactly where the rose garden was years before. So when I sketched the front yard I changed it, too. I moved the rose garden to conceal the driveway and put planters of flowers surrounding the grass area. I figure the lavender would need less water out at the street edge and the flowering plants could be up close to the house.

A Cup of Tea.

A cup of tea and tissue. My life for now.

Amaryllis

Today was a sick day but I did manage my daily drawing of this Amaryllis opening.

Neighbor's House #25

House series continued....... This one I tried to paint in the sun. Big mistake. The colors got to dark because I was blinded by the light. I had to come in by 11:00 because of the heat. It's hot, hot, hot here. Over 100 degrees. I am not ready for summer. I am looking forward to Wednesday when the weather man said it will cool down.

GREEN SCENE FULLERTON ARBORETUM

The Green Scene is a plant and garden show at the Fullerton Arboretum in California. Many vendors and many gardeners and plant stuff everywhere. It was 97 degrees, with a dessert like breeze that just made it all bearable. I got several new Iris, 3 kinds of melons, (yellow water melon!) something called Mon Cherri and veggies for my garden. It is going to cool down by Wednesday so I will plant them then. That's the thing about California gardening. If you don't like the weather just wait 3 days. It will change.

My models kept moving so sometimes they had many noses all on the same face. I enjoy sketching the activities of people. Isn’t it fun being a people watcher.


This grandmother was just barely keeping it together. The little girl was enjoying her shaved ice and was ignoring grandma’s rant.



Well this lady, what can I say. If you live anywhere near this lady you will not need to plant your own tomatoes because she is going to have enough for you and every neighbor in a 4 mile area.

Neighbor's House #28

This is the last of the sketch crawl drawings, I think. Still working on the others. My dog, Ivy, is complaining because I keep stopping or even worse going on my walks without her now. She isn't very good at sitting and waiting when we are supposed to be walking.

Neighbor's House #189

This cute little blue one has a great dog named Alice inside.

NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE

This house has these wonderful Jacaranda trees that have these purple blooms. The flowers drop and cover the street with purple. The contrast between the orange red terra cotta tiles on the roof and the purple of the tree was too beautiful to pass up.

NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE #113

One more house. Let's see if I can do them all.

NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE #137

Here is another house on my daily walk/sketch.

Neighbor's house #150

I painted the sketch I did on Saturday. The rose arch is just starting to bloom. I think I will have to do this again when the rose blooms.

GARDEN BENCH

This is a little painting I did for the SketchCrawl but never loaded it. I was visiting a fellow gardener and took the time to sketch a part of her yard.

NEIGHBORS HOUSE #160

Here is another of the paintings from my morning walk. I thought I would add some watercolor. Of course it turns into a morning walk and sit and walk. I plan on doing as many as I can. One house at a time. I can do anything, if I take it one step at a time.

AWARD

After careful consideration I have chosen DDR Art for the Got to Draw Award for his consistent use of time to draw. He has used every resource at his command to continue drawing, no matter what. Take some time and visit his site.

Congratulation!

PATIO

Here is my new brick garden patio. Easter day was beautiful, sunny, fresh and relaxing. I remember when everyone would come to my house for dinner and I worked for days to get the house ready, the food purchased and staged and everything just right so I could enjoy my family and friends. Now, here I am just sitting and sketching. Isn't life grand?

SketchCrawl #21

I like the idea of setting a day

aside for something special.

Here is my first SketchCrawl day.



Drawing





Listening

Just observing each jewel of a house.

They always call to me to

take the time to draw and share them.

Here they are. Enjoy.

AWARD

I have received this award from the wonderful artist Cathy Gatland. I started following Cathy's blog A Sketch in Time and admired her expressive sketches and watercolors. It is an honor and a responsibility for which I was not prepared. I really appreciate Cathy for her support and encouragement with this new art blog effort. Thanks again Cathy.

It took a little while to figure out not only what I had to do, but how to do it.
Here are the rules of the PASSION FOR PAINTING AWARD:- List 7 things you love.- Put a link to the one who awarded the award to you.- Pass on the award to 7 others.- Notify them of the award.

I Love:
My family and friends (that includes my BFF)
My furry family (Ivy, Sam, Sammy, Samantha and Missy).
Art including pigments, wonderful graphite pencils, paper (I love paper) and all art related stuff.
On location painting, anywhere.
Painting buddies.
My garden and everything that comes from it.
Last but not least, I love my 1920's house, the glass door knobs, hardwood floors, French windows, upstairs hideaway and my vine covered studio with French doors opening to year around fragrant blossoms.

Second, I award THE PASSION OF PAINTING AWARD to:
Anita Davies
Carol Feldman

Suzanne Buchanan

Anna Morales Puigcerver
Adebanji Alade

Sandy

Jeanette Jobson

FIRST BLOOM OF APRIL

Here is my front garden with some of the flowers that are blooming.

DINNER PREP

Long day yesterday. I tried to cook but found these vegetables to good to waist. These are the last of the vegetables out of the garden. Well except for the frozen stuff and one squash that has been on the counter since November.

A neighbor's home

This is a house I see on my daily walks. Yes I am walking again. Not very far but my foot is healing. The roses are blooming and the new leaves are that wonderful spring green. It's still cold and foggy, but just being out of the house is great.

This was last Wednesday. While coming home from the Geranium meeting I pulled off the freeway and painted while waiting for the traffic to lighten. This type of eucalyptus tree has bark that is smooth like human skin with sagging wrinkles at the base of the trunk and limbs.

This is Dana Point, California. It was a rainy day and lovely painting weather. I love that I could see the cloud dropping rain as it passed by, but at the same time there were patches of clear blue sky.

BOOKS AND COFFEE

What would I do without Barnes & Nobel for a place to sit, have coffee and sketch? Ain't life grand?