some Sketches, a Surprise Sale, and the Importance of Sunscreen

I haven't had a weekend off in about 8 months between work and school, so yesterday was a treat.  I decided to take advantage of this and headed down to the local beach to work on some watercolor sketching - I however got some severe sunburn age on my legs (I've never really had to use sunscreen on my legs except for the back! seriously, getting them to brown is like hammering a cube through a round hole) but I enjoyed being out non-the-less

forgive the quality, going up and down stairs is a little difficult with the sunburns (and my scanner is upstairs) so I had to use Photobooth for these:

the first pic was becoming tedious until I realized I wasn't letting myself just have fun with it, and it started coming out much better - though I got a little liberal with the foreground color and will have to fix the sea-spray and foam with some gouache

the second was the real reason I had come to the rock I was sitting on (and burning on).  I was really liking how the water was reacting with these boulders.  Of course as I was starting to finish it up was when I realized I was getting a little more red than I felt was comfortable. So I still have a bit to finish up here.  I also used watercolor pencils along with my travel watercolors for this one.

The next one I have no picture for, because my camera had died and I didn't have my laptop with me (no way I was lugging that around when I had no idea if I was going to be hiking over natural sea barriers) but I was just doing some life sketching at Starbucks (got myself a Carmel Frap because it was bloody hot and I needed a respite before the last half part of my trek back to the car) and was so excited about them that he asked for a picture from me.  For a moment I thought about quipping back with "only if you are willing to pay for it", but his absolute and honest enthusiasm convinced me otherwise.  I finished the pic and gave it to him (Merv was his name, and unfortunately I've forgotten his friend's name).  At which point he offered to pay, and as I was too flabbergasted at the fact that he was wanting and willing to pay for it, he offered me $20. This for a 5x7 angel sketch.  I was both taken aback and filled with gratitude.  It felt great knowing that someone felt my art had worth.

Today the sunburn is only hot-pink and stead of lobster-red, and I'm feeling much more inspired to work on some projects. So far, a really fun weekend :)

as always, thanks for stopping by!