our pics: 2009

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Still experimenting with painting water..

We went to Dana Point today. Water is tough.. I wanted to just let loose and have fun with it. I may have gone a little overboard with the blue and violet in the sky. And the water got a little muddy too I think.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Mission at San Juan Capistrano

Last week, we went to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. That was a really cool place to draw and paint. So much to choose from. We got there in the morning and by the time we left, several classes and painting groups had set up and painted in areas around the mission. They were packing up to leave around the same time as us. It's a large mission, and has some great views. I hope we go back again soon. There are so many good places around town. We're going to Back Bay in Costa Mesa next Wednesday, and going to the harbor in Dana Point the week after that I think.

This is what I got out of our painting day at the Mission.

Sketch started: Balboa Pavilion

This is a sketch that I started of the Balboa Pavilion the same day we went to Balboa Island. I started getting a headache, and decided to head home. It's been so warm here, and it's not warm like TX, so I forget to drink lots of water. Then I get these headaches and I can't figure why because while it's warm, it's nothing like a summer in Austin. I wear a long sleeve shirt to protect my skin from the sun, and in TX, well you would just have to be crazy to sit outside during the day in the first place. So.. that's the difference.. But i liked where this sketch was going.. I hadn't butchered it yet.

-- kiki

From Newport Beach, Balboa Island

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Plein air painting 2 - The Breakfast Cafe

Again, playing w/ the amount of water in my brush, and other things.. The reds of the building are inconsistent, and I didn't add any shadowing to the tree to the left of the building, on the left side of the painting. So this one is unfinished i think.. But I liked how parts of it came out.

Plein air painting 1 - The Park Bench Cafe

Plein air painting in the park. This is a small sketch and watercolor of the Park Bench Cafe on Goldenwest Street. I'm still really experimenting with the water on the paper.. some parts i like, and some areas of the painting i do not like as much. Luckily the two artist friends I went painting with want to go again soon, and are really enthusiastic about going often. We started at 9am, and finished around 3. We had lunch at the this place called Breakfast in the Park. (Subject of the 2nd painting)

Friday, August 14, 2009

Lora

Lora was really good tonight. I like how these two turned out.

--kiki

Thursday, August 13, 2009

makin' progress.. very slowly...

I'm horrible when it comes to drawing faces and hands.. as you can see, i avoided both in this first drawing. In the 2nd drawing, the head is too small, or the neck is too wide. I don't know. I think the hand is too small too.. But they are both there. I tried. -kiki

Sunday, July 26, 2009

we watch the kite surfers on the water

we'll take walks to the beach, and depending on which way we go along the shore we'll either see kite surfers along the shore line going north, or surfers waiting for the next wave if we go south. i heard that both, kite surfers and surfers are very territorial with their beaches. and they can be real jerks if you're on their 'turf' so to speak.. good thing we don't surf yet.