China Camp
February 17, 2009
Some of our sketching friends were like – It’s on! 9am! paint all day!!!…I’m like – um, it’s going to rain…all day….rain+watercolors? not going to work.
We went anyway, and it actually cleared up so much it almost ruined my beautiful grey watercolors with these nasty patches of blue sky. I thought there might be god rays any second. I’d have to get my Thomas Kinkade on.
This was another day of sitting on wet slippery rocks – painting one direction with stuff balanced on a boulder and the other twisting around and reaching behind for color. Not exactly ergonomic..but it gets the job done.
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Citizen Sketcher 
What a fun post and the sketches are terrific, of course! To be Thomas Kinkade, you’d have to have wet streets, streetlights (gas, natch) on in the afternoon, spring flowers blooming at the same time as the trees have autumn foliage, people milling about in late 19th centuryish clothes, and, yes, god rays. I’ve got it all figured out.
Definitely enjoy the sketches and the photo/watercolor painting comparisons. Thank you so much!
God you are good! I love all of your paintings / drawings / sketches. Just wondering… what type of ink pen do you use?
Well, thank you! , like every artist, I always say, I’m learning. Glad you’re enjoying the process :) As far as pens and materials – nothing unusual – I use rolling ball gel pens. Ballpoints draw quickly! I like how they zip across the page, never stopping. For the dark accents, I use a cartridge brush pen from Pentel – the GFKP model. It’s great. The brush is fiberglass, so has real bristles, not like a brush marker. Otherwise I use normal watercolors and draw either on ‘cover stock’ from the stationary store, strathmore bristol (smooth, coated paper) or various kinds of 140 lb watercolor paper.
Excellent information Marc — thank you!