Last summer sun in Greece

Last week I was on Samos, an island in Greece, near Turkey. To soak up the last summer sun. The temperature was really nice, with lots of sunshine. My sister and I rented a great villa near Phytagorion with views on the sea and the coast of Turkey.

View from our villa

One of the churches we past on our trips and a visit to the Archeological Museum in Vathi - Samos city

A view of Kokkari

Cappuccino in Kokkari

View from our villa, the mountains of Turkey in the early morning fog

A monastery in the hills, and old remains in Phytagorion

And a tasty grilled sea-bream for lunch

And now we are back home again, autumn is here and the summer time has ended. Time to go back to work!

Cooling down

The wheather  has been really hot the last days and now the temperature is finally coming down. Or at least it is on its way back to normal.

In the meantime I have been busy. I visited the Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. This was one of the biggest missions in california and it is still in use as a church and a retreat.

And I did some sketching at the beach down the road (in one of my new sketchbooks ,  I bought a small square size sketchbook and two wonderful watercolor journals ).

Yesterday  (Saturday ) I went to a meetup with the San Diego plein air painters. They were meeting at the eucalyptus foŕrest in La Jolla. Most of them paint with oils but I painted with watercolors. 

And today I meet up with the San Diego Urban Sketchers in Rancho Santa Fe. This is a lovely little town just 30  minutes away. We meet at the garden club, where at 11 an artshow started, with work from one of the regular Sketchers.  I sketched the library at the other side of the road.

And after a visit to the artshow, I joined a few Sketchers for lunch at the local bistro. The local coordinator is trying to arrange another meeting during the week. Maybe even with a visit to the zoo. I will let you know wat happens next week.

Hello from San Diego

I have arrived in San Diego and have already been busy. I flew in on Friday, making one stop in Salt Lake City and arrived in the late afternoon. After picking up my rental car I found my way to the cottage easily. I unpacked my bag, had a small bite to eat and went for a walk. The beach is just at the end of the road and there was a beautiful sunset.

And then  I went to sleep. The time difference with Europe is 9 hours, so I was feeling pretty exhausted.

On Saturday morning I went to a meeting with the San Diego Urban Sketchers. We met at Presidio park, one the early European settlement. We sketched for 2 hours and then showed our work. I had a great time, it is a nice and welcoming group. 

It is already Sunday. I went to the farmers market this morning and bought lovely ripe peaches, tomatoes and some vegetables. Oh yeah... And a mini pecan pie ;-).

At Aaronbrothers I bought painting papers and a few brushes. I love the labor day sales! And after a visit to the beach  (it is hot here), it is time for siësta.  

Big Sur and Rocky Point

This week I turned some of my reference photo's into sketches and little paintings. 

I visited the art museum in Monterey, it has 2 separate buildings. One in the city center with beautiful paintings of California. And also two great exhibitions. One from a textile artist called Malin Lager. She makes marvelous portraits and paintings with textile and thread. Very impressive!
And an exhibition of work from Jules Tavernier, he worked as an illustrator for a magazine, but also did some great paintings.

On Saturday I visited the Point Pinos Lighthouse. I looked at the inside of the lighthouse and talked to some of the volunteers on duty. I love how people can be passionate about sharing their stories and knowledge with others. Lovely people!

This sketch is from a buoy that is in the garden of the lighthouse.

And on Sunday I went on my painting trip. There were 2 meeting points and somehow I missed the other people attending. The first stop was at the Big Sur River Inn, a stop along the Pacific Highway 1. The road to Big Sur is beautiful with lots of ocean views and vista's. At the River inn there is a restaurant with a terrace and a lawn with a small river. People sit in the middle of the river in wooden chairs.... I did not see anyone painting and/or looking as a painter, so after one hour I headed to the next stop.

The next stop was at the Rocky Point restaurant. Beautiful setting, lots of subjects to paint. I did a few sketches and then went home, I had enough of the sun and the wind. I took some great photo's so maybe I will make some more paintings later. When my sister comes, we can do this trip again, AND go for lunch at the Rocky Point restaurant. It looked very nice!

The last few days I have been checking the arrival times of the flight from Amsterdam. The flight has been seriously delayed for the last days. Hopefully the flight that my sister takes on Wednesday will be on time! I will pick her up from the airport and we will spend 2 1/2 weeks together. It has been great spending time here in Pacific Grove, and the time spend on sketching and painting. I am already here for 2 weeks, time flies.... But it is also great to share the beautiful sights with someone and I am really looking forward to my sisters arrival.

More watercolor sketches from California

Monday, on my walk to Monterey I passed the Hopkins Marine research center. It is near to the Monterey aquarium and has a lovely secluded beach. The beach belongs to the research center and on the beach were many harbor seal resting, but when I painted the scene I left the seals out. 

I walked around in Monterey, it was very crowded due to Labor Day. I sat outside at Ghiradelli's and had a marvelous chocolate milkshake. And had a lovely talk with a couple from Marina, they were also enjoying the view, the weather and a great milkshake.

Next on my list was a visit to the Mission in Carmel. It is now Tuesday and the weather is not as nice as the days before. The clouds haven't moved anywhere.... and it looks like it is going to rain. Perfect day for a visit to the mission. I sketched the mission in my sketchbook onsite (with pencil) and added the pen and wash later at home.

and I created a little watercolor painting in my handmade watercolor journal from the reference images I took.

Most days I take either a walk or a drive along the coast. There is a beautiful scenic drive just around the corner, leading to Asilomar. There are lots of dunes at Asilomar and a great big beach. Watercolor sketches in my journal.

And lots a birds, and seagulls! This one posing patiently til I was done with my sketch. In pen and watercolor pencil.

It is already Thursday today. Time to think what I am going to do this weekend. On Sunday I am meeting a local drawing/painting group and we head out to Big Sur to do some sketching and painting. Looking forward to that! And I need to get prepared for my sister to come. She will arrive in a weeks time, and I will pick her up from the airport on Wednesday. There are a few things on my list I still can/need do without her, like visiting the art museum in Monterey and then we will focus on doing things we can do together. Like going kayakking, whale watching etc. Oh, and shopping (for art materials) of course :-).

Labor Day weekend

This weekend is Labor Day weekend. Lots of people have a long weekend off and go to the coast. The little town is completely jam packed and the beach is crowded. I love the atmosphere, people are picknicking and bbq-ing in the park at Lovers Point and I saw a beach wedding, a birthday party and a family reunion.

Last Saturday I took the Elkhorn Slough safari boat trip from Moss Landing. I was a lovely trip, the boat is a pontoon boat  and it leaves from the harbor in Moss Landing and visits the Elkhorn Slough, a wetland nature reserve. Lots of wildlife to see (and hear... and smell...). Harbor seals, sea lions, sea otters and lots of birds. The kids on the trip get all an assigment, so we have sea otter spotters, seal spotters and every animal we see gets counted and written down and make up some impressive counts at the end of the trip. 88 sea otters, more then 400 sea lions (most of them piled together on 2 pontoons), lots of habor seal and lots of birds.

I started 2 bigger paintings, one from the little watercolor sketch I did in my journal. The size is 11"x 14". The paper is from the same brand I use at home, but it behaves completely different. The pelican is painted on smooth watercolor paper and is difficult to work on. Not sure I like it...

Pacific Grove

Pelican

And some sketches of rocks with pen in my sketchbook, I added a little bit of watercolor later.

Today I am leaving the car behind, and will take another walk to Monterey on the recreational path next tot the ocean. I might do some people see-ing :-) and go for lunch. I will be back later!

Painting, walking and sight-seeing

I started with some small paintings in my handmade watercolor journal 5 1/2" x 7 1/2". First I made a watercolor painting using a reference image I took at the Santa Cruz arboretum last Sunday.

Then I created a watercolor of Pacific Grove. This is a very typical landscape/seascape in PG, rocks, the ocean, purple flowers and some cypresses.

And a watercolor of the little beach at Lovers Point.

Today I went to the Monterey aquarium. I walked thru Pacific Grove and took the recreation trail along the coast to the aquarium. The cottage I rent has 2 annual passes to the aquarium, which makes it easier to go only for a limited time. I visited a few exhibits, gazed at the giant octopus.... and went to 2 films/shows in the auditorium. One was about deep sea creatures (I saw some strange animals I never ever saw before) and a lovely story about Luna, one of the sea otters rescued by the aquarium.

I did bring my sketchbook, but it stayed in my bag. It was crowded and not so easy to find a quiet spot. But I took some photo's, maybe I will turn one into a painting.

Walking back I spotted many harbor seals resting on the beach, some seals resting on rocks and I did see a few sea otters today. The weather is perfect as well. This has been a great day!

Enjoying myself

Monday after work I went to find a SIM card for my mobile phone. And I did find a good deal at the local shopping center. 30 days of unlimited calls, so I can dial into all the conference calls for work.

Then I moved on to what I came to do, relax, sightseeing and sketching/painting. I took the Ocean View, just around the corner and it is a beautiful scenic route. There are lots of places to stop along the road with beautiful views of the ocean. I did some sketches with a brown Pitt pen in my journal (sorry for the bad quality of the images, but I do not have a scanner here :-)).

And a lovely photo I took of the lighthouse.

After the tour I went to the local farmers market and bought some fruit, tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini's. I am making pasta tonight!

And we are already in the next day. After a few hours work I decided to take the same scenic route again. Yesterday was a full day and I had hardly time to sketch. And that is what I am here for! So, now in a slower pace, stopping and sketching along the way. Rocks and a little beach in pencil.

On the way back, I stopped at Lovers Point, no(i)sy seagulls were wondering what I was doing...

It has been (and still is) a beautiful day, lots of sunshine and relaxing. I hope to paint a bit more now that I am back at the cottage. There are still a few hours in this day!

More sketches in my artist journal

As you can see, I am missing some sketches... It is very difficult to paint every day, especially when you are working all day long. But I am happy with the ones I did do.

All in my handmade watercolor journal.

Market day in Russia in pen and watercolor, the reference image is from Paint My Photo: http://paintmyphoto.ning.com/photo/3-women-on-the-market-place

And a very light watercolor wash for the daisies

A sweet sea otter, as practice for my trip to California. I hope to see and sketch some in real life! In watercolors

Sketches in my handmade artist journal

Last week my sister came for dinner and we made an artist journal / sketchbook each. I made mine from Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper. I bought 25 sheets on sale.

The journal is about 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" and because I did not want to spoil it... I made another one. And this weekend I made a bigger one as well (double the size).

I will be travelling to California in a few weeks time and want to sketch and paint every day. This is my practice run, trying to create every day.

A watermelon still life for the WDE (Weekend Drawing event) on Wetcanvas

And a fish with blue lips for the WDE

Poppy seed heads with pen and ink

And a sketch from Pacific Grove, where I will be staying a few weeks