Sutter's Landing

 So I go to Michael's and pick up the bare essentials: a generic watercolor paint set with 12 colors, a generic set of brushes, a small palette, and a pad of watercolor paper. All for under $20, a small investment for unlimited creativity!  Add in a little applesauce cup and a piece of a car wash sponge and I was ready to go. The amount of supplies was key to be able to fit it all into my backpack and carry it where ever the whim took me.  I had a couple of hours of free time on a Saturday, I think it must have been sometime in February 2012 (that's the problem with going back and trying to remember! Ideally, I'll get caught up on this blog and be able to say "yesterday"). Anyways, the explorer in me decided to try a spot along the American River that I had not been to before - Sutter's Landing at the end of 28th Street. After checking out the area, including a dog park, picnic area, and skate park (can you tell I was procrastinating the art part of this excursion?) I finally settled down on a log along the bank, put my headphones on with some music, and started putting some paint on the paper. I don't know why I put music on, because I usually like working with just the quiet of nature around me, but it seemed to keep me focused on this particular day.

I started with the sky and worked my way down. No sketching out an outline. As I worked, I was particularly interested in capturing the reflection of the trees in the water, which meant I had to draw and exact replica of the tree I had just drawn upside-down (or at least that is what my mind told me). I tried to keep a space between the shore and the river to emphasize this reflection. There was not much color (It was March after all) other than the mistletoe bunches in the trees. The train trellis was way off in the distance (about 20th Street) but it challenged me and it became more of a focus point in the painting. The afterthought in the painting was the dead tree branch and the bank. The painting needed some balance.   It does help break up the vast sky I laid down at the beginning of my painting.

I was pleased with the first attempt of working with watercolors in 20 years. It was very relaxing and rejuvenating. I was already planning my next outing with my backpack full of painting supplies!