Afternoon at Huntington Gardens

We were at the Huntington a few Saturdays ago, and as usual, I brought my small Aquabee sketchbook just in case. I was rewarded with a few sketching opportunities as you can see here.

These were all very quick studies, done in ten minutes or less, with a Sanford Uniball pen. I tried to capture the big picture - the main shapes and values, without regard to any details. I find it is easy to get wrapped up in the little things, and miss the primary inspiration.

I took a few reference photos, although I really didn't need to as I was able to remember the colors easily. I added color to all of the sketches later in my studio. This was a good time of practice: eye/hand coordination; sketching on the go; value; composition; and painting technique.

The City of Los Angeles

I am continuing to work on sketches of Los Angeles for my Los Angeles Sketchbook, which will be published some day. This is a series I just completed of the skyscrapers of downtown. The top painting is very loose, with little regard for detail. I was trying to express shapes and forms through the use of color, value, and shadow.

The next three are very tight, and done with a series of background glazing washes with small bits of detail selectively located through the paintings, giving the illusion that there is more detail than there really is.

The bottom two images are of my studio(s): my inside one, and when the weather permits, my outside one, on the patio table in the back yard.