Watching the waves

I just came back from a short vacation in tropical Riviera Maya, where I spent much time trying to capture the shapes of sea waves in my sketchbook. There is something very relaxing, almost therapeutic in watching the waves.
Now, back to work and catching up with the real world...

By the sea

Sunrise over the sea, watercolor 38 x 28 cm

This sunrise turned out a little rigid and "plastic". One almost expects to see a few Cupids behind the clouds ;) I was trying to depict that edge of light around the clouds when the sun lights them from the back. I think the light came out well, and my brushes are happy that they finally got to do some work.

By the sea, watercolor sketch

I did this sketch on location a month ago. Isn't it a happy scene?!

Colors of the sea

Sea in the sun, watercolor 38 x 28 cm

Sea under the clouds, watercolor 38 x 28 cm

Prussian blue
Yellow ocher
Alizarine crimson
Burnt umber
Mix ingredients with water, spread on paper, add salt to taste and leave flat to dry :)

Maya faces 4

Los Voladores 3, watercolor 25 x 30 cm

Maya faces 3

Los Voladores 2, watercolor 25 x 30 cm

In the previous post I said that the face was overworked. But while working on this one, I realized how much I enjoyed examining all facial features and trying to depict them. So, while part of me would like to finish a painting in a few expressive brush-strokes, another part, the one that takes control, finds pleasure in the details. One day these two will probably come to an agreement. But for now, it is what it is. I'm happy with the result.

Maya faces 2

Los Voladores 1, watercolor 25 x 30 cm

I couldn't sleep last night, maybe due to the time change. So, instead of tossing and turning, I went to my "studio" and painted for an hour, until I felt sleepy. When I got back from work today, I was eager to continue. Here is the result. The face is a bit overworked, but I think it isn't bad.
The photo is of one of the "flying men" (Los Voladoers), whom we watched performing an old Mexican ritual. It starts by dancing at the top of a very high post, after which four of the men launch down on ropes, spinning until they reach the ground. I was surprised to see that the performers were not young at all. And I was happy to be able to take a few good shots of their faces, which seemed so interesting to me.

Maya faces

Mayan woman 1, watercolor on Langton paper, 21 x 23 cm

Mayan women, watercolor on Langton paper, 30 x 25 cm

Mayan woman 2, watercolor, 13 x 16 cm

I've been so busy lately, having no time for either painting or blogging. So, as soon as I found a few free hours this weekend, I grabbed the brushes and did these studies. They are based on photos I took on my vacation in Mexico.
In the mean time so much has happened in blog-space... I am eager now to catch up.

Pueblo del Rio at night

Pueblo del Rio at night, watercolor on Langton Prestige paper, 38 x 28 cm

Pueblo del Rio

Pueblo del Rio 2,
watercolor on Langton Prestige paper,
28 x 38 cm

More sketching in the sun

Under the gray sky
The last day started with clouds and drizzle. I hid under a beach umbrella to paint this.

When once I shared with a friend my fear of painting outside, due to potential observers, she said "I love people watching me paint, they only say nice things." And she was right. Most passer-by-s last week would simply mind their own business. The few who stopped and looked at my activity, were very encouraging.

Here are the rest of my vacation sketches. Have a very nice week, everyone!

Flamingos, watercolor in a sketch-book

The straw umbrellas

These lanterns, situated along the path-ways in the resort
created a somewhat mystic atmosphere

Fruit and wine - a subject inside the room.
I completely failed with the bougainvillaea
flowers, but I like the bottle and am proud
with the glass, done without any masking
or white paint

Sketching in the sun

Sea, Sun and Sand, watrecolor sketch on Arches travel book

I am back from a week's absence and eager to see what everybody has been up to and to catch up on blogging.

I spent the last week at a beach resort in Mexico, escaping from the knee-high snow, traffic chaos and the chores at the office.  I made a point of doing at least a couple of sketches every day. I tried choosing simple subjects or simplifying the scenery. Though the sketches often didn't turn out the way I wanted, there was something good in almost every one of them and I felt that I was learning about the different subjects. The whole point of sketching is sketching itself, not producing masterpieces. The little Arches travel book (25 x 15 cm) proved a perfect size to carry around, with quality paper allowing to paint on both sides of each sheet.

One thing really surprised me - how humid  it was there and how different it was to paint in such conditions. So far I have been wondering how fast some artists must be painting to be able to keep wet edges and do a good wet-on-dry technique. So, you people from the British isles, now I know what advantage you have with your humid climate too! :)

I'm posting a few of my sketches. More to come in the next post....

Pueblo Rio at night
This was the commercial part of the resort, with
picturesque buildings situated along a salt-water river

Sketching people at the beach with watercolor only, no pencil,
as people move and there's very little time to capture a pose

A pelican by the sea
On a sunny day the sea really has these intense colors

Sun, sand and sea

Last week we took a break from winter at a sunny destination. I used the opportunity to do some plain air sketching. The colors of the sea were so enticing, I was constantly imagining the blues and greens mixing wet-in-wet.

The real challenge was sketching people. I had read somewhere that the best place to paint people is at the beach, as there people tend to maintain a position for a long time. So not true! The moment you start drawing someone, they move.

Nevertheless, I managed to do a few sketches. And, of course, took tons of photographs for future reference. 

Here are a few pages from my little sketchbook.

watercolor pencils