One decent storm came through but now it’s back to sunny and cool to cold. I went up to Trinidad yesterday afternoon. It was very windy and pretty cold, so I set up in the van just like I did when it was snowing in Yellowstone last September. I sit in the driver’s seat and use the wheel as support for the piece of foamcore I tape the watercolor paper to. The paint and water container are on the passenger seat.
I’m really liking this rock and the way the light lands on it in the afternoon. It may end up being my version of Monet’s hay bales for awhile. It’s around 9×6″.
Last week I drove down the hill from our house to the parking area across from the beach and did this quick study (motivated by the nippy temperature) of Trinidad Head, so-called because a Spanish ship made landfall there on the Feast of the Trinity on June 9, 1775. You can read more about the town and its history here. It was cloudy with no sun, but I wanted to get in a little location painting time so figured I’d do a small piece. It’s about 6×9″.
The top piece was done on Saunders Waterford 140lb. hot press. The other two were done on Arches 140lb. hot press. I used my set of Yarka watercolors and a ProArte synthetic round brush. I have a bunch of different brushes and am trying them out one by one to see which, if any, I like best these days.
And, yes, we’re very fortunate to live only fifteen minutes away from such a beautiful beach.
Susan Fox, American Artist 
The harbor rock painting is very nice. It looks like a portrait for a mountain. 🙂
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These are very nice water colors Susan. Thanks for noting your paper and brushes. Do you usually work on hot press? Your “car studio” seems like the way to go on these cool windy days.
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I prefer hot press to rough or cold press, but am going to be experimenting with hot press illustration board, too. When I was in Yellowstone for three days it was sunny, then rainy and then morning snow. Limited time and I really wanted to paint in the Lamar Valley, so figured out how to make it work just sitting in the front seat. We need to make a plywood “table” for the passenger seat to provide a level place to put paint, brushes, etc., but otherwise it works fine.
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