Back from Santa Barbara, More Watercolor Pencils, and more

Posted on | March 7, 2008 |

Dave and I had a lovely time in Santa Barbara. We flew directly to the Santa Barbara Airport from Phoenix. It’s a tiny quaint airport with very little in the way of amenities, but it has that lovely Spanish architecture that we loved. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t need to use a wheelchair to get on or off any flight. I did, however, use my folding cane, since it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Dave and I stayed in Monticeto and enjoyed the neighborhood feel of the area. It was nice to just walk to breakfast each morning and then for coffee later in the day. We really enjoyed our time it was great reconnecting time for us. We toured the Botanic Gardens and got lost in them because part of it was closed off for renovation and we couldn’t take the direct road around the whole thing! It was hilarious. We were glad we had some snacks and water with us. I took quite a few photos to use for reference photos later. To the right is one of my favorite photos from that day. I love how the tree is reflected in the water that gathered on this rock.

We also toured some of the Santa Inez Valley, including Solvang. It is a cute little Danish town and, though it’s mostly a lot of pastry (which I can’t eat due to allergies and TRYING to be good about my weight!) and shopping, I did get some good photos. One is seen here, on the left, but there are more in my Flickr Set.

Of course, I also did some drawing while we were there - have sketchbook and will travel! I only allowed myself watercolor pencils, a few Pigma Micron pens, and a small book I made of cold press watercolor paper and some textured black paper. I challenged myself to draw at least once a day and I enjoyed it - as I always do. I’m not always happy with how things come out, but I did find that I actually relaxed more and really noticed my surroundings more. I’m looking forward to continuing this around home, too. To the right is one of the drawings I did while we sat in the coffee shop.

On Tuesday, we had a new lesson (week 4 already!) of watercolor pencil class. I had hoped to see more flowers in Santa Barbara at the Botanic Garden, but since I didn’t, I went to resource photos. I didn’t find much in my own photos that inspired me for the botanical study lesson this week. However, I was reading DJ Pettitt’s blog and was inspired by the photos in her post. I emailed DJ and she was kind enough to allow me to use them for class. The pussy willows came out great. I like the detail I did in the purple flower to the right, but the color is not quite right. I’m sure I will try it again, but I needed to put it aside for now. I did get the shadows as I’d hoped, but there is something too single-toned about it. I just think I need some time away from it.

Also, after watching Project Runway’s finale (WOW!) I’m itching to do some sewing, so I might take a break this weekend from the intense watercolor pencil work and do some sewing. Of course, that’s what I want right now. I do tend to change my preferences at the drop of a hat!

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