Kristin #27, landscape thumbnails

5 x 8.5" pen and marker

Once I asked a teacher how to get better at drawing and understanding landscapes and she suggested this exercise: draw as many little thumbnail sketches that fit on a page in black and white. They get a little abstract because they are only little snippets, but they can become a fun little collection. These were all views near the Root Glacier on a day with unstable weather: lots of clouds and sun moving around the mountains.

Kristin #26, Fireweed

5 x 8.5" mixed media on grey paper

This is a little sketch of one of the local mountains, Fireweed. Another fun example of painting on grey paper. The flat-ish line across the bottom is the glacier. I was happy with the way the sculptural features of the geography came out.

#10 and #11 flower paintings Cheri

Two flowers I painted. One day the paint flows like you want it to, the next day the paint has a mind of it's own.

Lorrie #33 and #34 - Cats

Orange Cat, watercolor 8 x 10 inches

The county animal shelter had a fundraiser recently, so I jumped at the chance to paint a cat picture for the raffle table. I worked on three at a time (no, four!) because, well, I didn't really plan ahead and kept wanting to try something new. These, above and below, are two of them. I was rushing at the last minute to frame the one I liked best and get it there in time, and neglected to photograph it.

Calico Cat, watercolor 8 x 10 inches

#24 and 25 Kristin, More landscapes from life

5 x 8" watercolor and pen. Dancing Trees

I started doing this sketch as the wind picked up and made the trees start to dance.

about 2 x 3" , watercolor and pencil

all (c) 2011, klink

This is just a tiny drawing from my sketchbook looking out the window. Sometimes it is nice just to work small when the world is so big.

Lorrie #32 - Bird sketches

Crow and Brewer's Blackbirds, pen and watercolor sketches (each about an inch square)

As we know birds are everywhere and so fun to observe! I'm always trying to understand better what makes a bird look real (as opposed to an awkward thing drawn from memory). One day at an outdoor cafe I sketched some of the blackbirds nearby, using a water-soluble black pen and then spreading the ink with a damp brush, sometimes adding other colors wet-on-wet from a travel paint set. The crow is watercolor only. I've cut-and-pasted a few different sketches together here.

Kristin #23, fun challenge

This is a really fun thing to try to do. Find something you don't know and then draw it, make notes, do a few diagrams, go home and look it up. This was a unassuming little yellow flower I found growing in the creek: Crepus elegans.

Kristin, #21 and 22 landscape sketches

5 x 8.5" watercolor and pen

8.5 x 11" watercolor and pen

I've been busy moving and doing summer things, but I just got to teach a field sketching workshop so I've got some work to post finally. It was a great gift to get three days to do some drawing. I tried to have a lighter touch and have a bit more fun with these. I was looking through some of Claire Walker Leslie's books and got inspired by her gesture-like watercolor paintings and amazing skies.

Sunflowers on the Table -#27 Dora Sislian Themelis

Sunflowers on the Table (c)2011 11x14 Watercolor on Lanaquarelle

Worked in twenty minute intervals, I painted another sunflowers watercolor making this #27 in the challenge. Soon as I was done I put it away so as not to offer any chance to second guess anything. Finished and done.

#9 Dancers Three - Cheri

Really need some comments on this. I probably need to retake the picture cause it isn't as stubby as it looks.

Lonely Shell - #26 Dora Sislian Themelis

Lonely Shell 7x10 Watercolor Canson paper

Twenty minutes during a busy day yesterday afforded me just enough time to sketch this quick watercolor painting of a piece of broken shell retrieved from the beach last weekend. Thankfully my painting equipment is out and readily available so I can satisfy my whim to paint.

Painting #17 - Wandering through Coupeville - Claire

Another painting from my recent trip to Whidbey Island, Washington. One of my painting goals for the year is to try painting more 'people'. This was another opportunity to try sketching and painting a couple of guys (my guys).

Lorrie #31 - Purple Sky Canyon

Purple Sky Canyon, watercolor 9 x 12 inches

This came out of a session of having fun with complimentary colors and textured-surface paper (hot pressed, which I don't use that often). It is meant to convey the towering canyon walls and rock spires that are so plentiful and colorful in the southwestern U.S., though it wasn't done from a photo... I was just playing around.

#8 Tomatoes - Cheri

Ok tried to do a painterly picture but painted over it. This is my second attempt. I didn’t really stick to it here so ignore the color just trying to get the technique now. I am too much into the details, not as easy as it seems. Will try this again. Looks like an apple to me.

Lorrie #30 - Feather in the Path

Feather in the Path, watercolor 5 x 5 inches

The day after Kristin posted "Three Feathers" (on June 28), I was walking along a path and there was a tiny feather with two leaves that almost looked like brown feathers. Had to stop and paint this for Kristin! After I finished and began to walk onward, in less than 20 feet there was a trio of feathers (no kidding!) right in the middle of the path! My patience for painting had vanished, though, as I longed to see what was up the hill.

Big Yellow Umbrella- #25 Dora Sislian Themelis

Big Yellow Umbrella, 7x11 Watercolor

A pleasant visit to the beach today allowed me to paint this small watercolor in twenty minutes. Now I'm up to #25, chugging along in the challenge.

Painting #16 Good Morning Whidbey Island - Claire

My husband and I recently visited our oldest son in his new home on Whidbey Island in Washington State. I painted this from a not-so-great, out-the-car-window photo as we drove by on the first morning. I was really taken by the beautiful sites in the area and I have many more pictures to paint from.

In case you are curious about the ' a not-so-great, out-the-car-window photo', here it is (p.s. I added the cows from another photo taken from the car):
In hindsight.... I think that the fact that the photo isn't that great -- not that clear since it was taken through a window of a moving car -- that the so-so photo reference actually 'freed' me to compose my painting more on my own. Sounds strange.... but that is how it feels after the fact.

Sunflowers Outside-#24 Dora Sislian Themelis

Sunflowers Outside, 11x14 Watercolor, Lanaquarelle paper

I painted these wonderful sunflowers, from my farm share last week, which I photographed. I've been pushing myself to paint from photos rather than from life. It's probably good to be able to paint both ways. It's a challenge anyway.

#7 Reflections - Cheri

This is from a painting challenge to show the reflections. Although I didn't paint myself into the picture.

Liz#41 Oil on 6x6 gessoed plywood" Canoe"

I came outside and was struck by the pinkish sunlight on the aluminum canoe. Once I set up my french easel it had changed, and I realised again how challenging all those angles upon angles of a boat can be.

Liz Cutler # 39 and #40 Thompson Island, oil on panel 12x12

I am so addicted to plein air painting and Acadia National Park. I stopped twice at Thompson Island. This winter I will use these as references for larger paintings. Sorry about poor photos , I think some corn oil got on my camera from washing my brushes.

Lorrie #29 - Abalone and Sage

Abalone and Sage, watercolor 9 x 12 inches

I don't do still life works that often, but I always learn a whole lot when I do (and it's nice that the subject sits there so patiently). This is an abalone shell serving as a bowl to hold a braid of sweet grass and a bundle of white sage... both charred on the ends from alighting them and allowing their sweet aromas to permeate the air (Native American traditions). Yum!

Painting #15 Happy 4th of July - Claire

After working all day.... the recent heat has literally zapped my energy and I haven't done much sketching/painting lately. Over the weekend I thought some simple geraniums might get me going again....

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July !! It sure was HOT here in California!!

#6 Chicken Soup - Cheri

This was sort of fun and didn't take long to finish, my pallet was simple. Black, white, red, yellow ochre and white.

Lorrie #28 - Thank Ewe

Thank Ewe (partial view), watercolor 12 x 15 inches

This is a portion of a watercolor I made as a donation for Farm Sanctuary's 25 Anniversary Celebration this past spring, which included a silent auction. The funds from the auction help support the organization's very active efforts to improve the way "food animals" are treated in this country. 

#38 Liz, Cadillac Mountain , Pastel

There were so many possibilities to paint, so deciding what to paint before the sun set was a challenge. The colors of the scrubby vegetation, the pink granite and the ocean were vibrant, I did not have the intensity in my pastel set, so I tried a limited palette. Well limited for me.

#36 and #37 -Liz Cutler- Sailboat on the Dock

While Jeff built the cradle to set the boat in the water I took saw my chance to paint it on the dock. I beagn with a palette knife (above) it was way harder then I thought. Painting the angles and curves as it was bouncing with the waves and with colors changing with the clouds on the white boat, I did it again with my brushes.

#34 and # 35 Liz Cutler- Ellsworth Docks and Cherry Trees

I set up at the Union River in Ellsworth ME, with a fairly complicated composition, picnic table, boats, docks and trees. As I got more detailed I had trouble keeping colors clean so I decided to let it dry and perhaps finish it from a photo. The second one is are the rocks and trees in my yard slightly edited. They both are on plywood 12x12 panels with clear gesso the idea being to let some wood peek through. So far this has not worked out as I thought , I have covered almost all of the panel with paint.

Lorrie #27 - Solo Kayak

Solo Kayak, watercolor 5 x 7 inches

This was a quick plein aire painting to capture what struck me most about this view of Monterey Bay (from an overlook in Santa Cruz): the sky was such a different color and texture from the sea. As I painted, a kayak glided past. Maybe one day I'll do a larger, more careful version of this scene, at home.

Lorrie #26 - Beyond the Lawn

Beyond the Lawn, watercolor 12 x 15 inches

Wanted to play with mood and the idea that beyond the limits of our tailored yards is a wild and unfamiliar world, both tempting and a bit formidable because it's not clear what's out there....

UnCertain #5 - Cheri

Hate clowns and masks but I keep doing them. Acrylic on Canvas 11 x 14 x 1.5