Had a rare opportunity to really put some time into a plein aire painting today. I spent most of the day working on this, from a very careful base sketch to laying in all the paint. The house really is shaped like a paralellogram! It’s old, it’s built right on the beach and it has obviously settled over the decades. To be honest, I’d love to live in it. That third floor has a window looking over the sea – guess which room would be my studio?

I admit exaggerating the slope a bit, but it’s truly only a bit! The door has gaps in the corners where the frame has shifted out of true. While I was drawing, there was some sort of gathering on the beach to the left (out of frame). Not sure if that was a church group or what; beyond them, either rescue training or an actual rescue in progress. Exciting morning. I took it all in with my feet on a balcony rail and a cool ocean breeze at my disposal. Since it’s winter, this side of the house was shaded shortly after dawn. Boring! I gave it some summer morning light, to brighten the scene a bit.

Obviously I moved the palm trees to better show the house. Here’s a close-up of the warped doorframe as well.

The painting takes an entire page in my sketchbook, 6″ x 9″ on Winsor Newton 90lb hot press paper. Hot press is getting easier to manage, though I still miss the way paint flows on cold and rough press. Gotta keep learning though! Very pleased with the sky on this one. Lots of pigments in this, PB28, burnt umber, raw sienna, are the main ones.

Just for fun, here’s what the sky and nearby houses looked like the night before, at sunset and with a thin crescent moon nearby.