Croatia Sketches

So many picturesque places to paint in Croatia!  I've been trying to convince myself to sketch every day and today I finally listened to me and did two. ;)

 

Warts and All

I love traveling all around the world virtually, but something fundamentally doesn't work with that approach, and that is to be able to see all the color bouncing around a scene, as is visible when painting plein air. Intellectually, I know it's there and sometimes I can fake it, but nothing compares to the real deal. Yesterday, I placed a decorative gourd on my work table and my eyes were dazzled by all the color.  (Maybe a little too dazzled, but better too much than too little). So, here's my little gourd, warts and all.

Orange Boat

What could be better than hanging out in a cantaloupe colored boat on a sunny day? Well, actually untying the line and heading out to fish maybe. This was my first time painting on Saunders Waterford 200# paper and I'm very happy with the way it handled. I saturated it with water and stuck it on a plexiglass backing, where it stayed wet for hours while I added paint and lifted color.  And no buckling! You could say this paper really floated my boat. :)