1 Cactus, 2 Cacti Sketches

On-site sketch in 3.5 x 5.5″ watercolor Moleskine

Studio sketch from photo in Aquabee 6×9 sketchbook

It was a sunny day in the 70s today and the outdoors was calling. Instead of spending the day in the studio as planned, I took my sketchbook and little paintbox for a walk around the neighborhood, looking for something that would be fun to paint. A few blocks away I found an amazing cacti and succulent garden. I did the top sketch above while sitting on a convenient tree stump but I had problems. My pen had gone dry so I tried drawing in pencil but it just didn’t have the magic that drawing directly in ink has. I found myself repeatedly erasing and starting over which is the problem with pencils–the thrill of just going for it with ink is gone and pencils want to be ever so perfect. So I started over again, drawing directly with the watercolors and (continuing to resist stopping at 75%) added a little more paint when I got home.

I did the second sketch above in the studio tonight from the photo I took there. I think I’m going to try a larger painting also–all the overlapping shapes, shadows, and prickly things are really fun to paint.

Photo of the cactus