Night before last I sketched for Scavenger Hunt 145. I didn't post yesterday as we went back to Colorado to finish Gene's bike ride where I did some plein air practice. More about that after the sketches. I sketched in the 7 x 10 inch sketchbook with a Micron 05 pen, freehand as always. One of the challenges this Hunt is to sketch the twenty-six items in order. You might notice, they are in alphabetical order as well. I have a start at that.
Number 1, armor or proctective gear - Gene's bicycle helmet. About 15 minutes. Number 2, ball or bouncy - Gene's exercise ball with a stool to give the idea of size. 10 minutes or so.
Number 3, clasp - on my art bag that I rarely snap closed. 10 minutes, maybe. Number 4, duo or pair of something - salt and pepper shakers. 10 minutes.Yesterday, Gene decided he wanted to go back to Colorado and pick up where he left off on his 100 mile birthday ride. We left and went to Taos for breakfast at Michael's (Thanks to bag blog, Lou, for the recommendation).
It is about 90 miles to La Jara where Gene finished almost 82 of the 100 miles on his birthday. About noon today, he started were he left off on his birthday. I went down the road about 25 miles or so (back into New Mexico) and put up my easel. It was a beautiful day. I painted for about an hour with my acrylic paint on watercolor paper. The paper drys so fast that I thinned the paint a lot and used it somewhat like watercolor.
This was my first attempt looking from Highway 285 to the east. There were many clouds near the mountains both east and west, but not many above us in the valley.
When I finished the first painting, I just turned the paper over and started again. There was a cattle guard across the highway and some beautiful sunflowers. The flowers were on the left, but I decided to change the view and put them on the right. After I had painted for about 30 minutes, Gene came by and decided to ride on down the road so I painted for about 20 - 30 more minutes and packed up to become his SAG (Support, Assistance and Gear) car again. They aren't great paintings but I got in some painting time with the acrylics and enjoyed the afternoon. Gene rode a little over 34 miles.
You see the San Antonio mountain on this map, I was at the northern end of that peak on Highway 285.
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4 comments:
For anyone who does not know, you captured the essence of the country around La Jara. I love it. You have great potential as a watercolor artist :)
Bag Blog, thank you. It is pretty there in a wide open spaces way. The layers of mountains are incredible. I could never do watercolors like that. With acrylics you can go over a mistake and cover it. With watercolor I would make mud! Oh my. Thanks for the thoughts.
OH My Goodness - Upon seeing you have a new post before I click over, I make sure my coffee cup is full and I glance at my watch 'cause I'm always going to be here a while! Jo, you blow me away with your sketches, your photos and most of all your plein air paintings! Love both of these! Had never heard of Angel Fire until you took us there - Now I want to go! Thought our 13 mile bicycle rides around our Florida neighborhood was "something" until you introduced us to Gene and his 100-mile ride! I'm not leaving yet- still have to check out the digital painting link and look at some more of your photos! Thanks for a very inspiring morning! Gotta refill my coffee cup and I'll be right back!
Hi Rosemary, well, what a nice comment to wake up to this morning. This is a special and beautiful place. It is a ski area and nice here for summer. We will be taking a circle drive again today from here through Antonito, CO, Chama, NM and back. It is another beautiful drive where you can ride a train from Antonito to Chama. We didn't make the train ride so want to do this before we move to Albuquerque for our last month of summer in NM. Writing my blog has been very good for me and I am so happy that it inspires you. Thanks....
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