painting rocks

I love rocks. I pick up random rocks from sidewalks, from beaches, from roadsides, and even from my own backyard. They find their way to glass jars or bookshelves. I carry a particularly smooth and symmetrical black stone in my purse that I like to touch. I even wrote a poem about that one.

Now that I am taking a watercolor class, I look at practically everything through a lens of wondering whether it would be good subject matter for a watercolor painting and I've started carrying my digital camera in my purse so that I can preserve images or ideas for myself.

My latest watercolor was inspired by a photograph I took on the beach at Asilomar in December. I started with a general layout of shapes using a flat brush and a very watery burnt umber, followed by a series of layers to create the curves, shadows, and depth. I had a good time mixing colors like purples and greens to create interesting grays and browns. It's not finished yet. Or maybe it is. But I think probably it's not.
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