I spent this day in Leo Carrillo Ranch's historic park in Carlsbad, a 27-acre canyon area with tall trees and old buildings. Shuang Li presented her style of “En Plein Air” in the morning, and we had an art critique in the afternoon.

6200 Flying Leo Carrillo Ln,
Carlsbad, CA 92009

Shuang Li is an excellent educator, and it has been a while since I have participated in such a useful art critique session. About twenty artists of transparent aquarelle, gouache, pastel, and oils participated. We had about three hours after the demonstration to scout our location and produce a work for analysis.

I was invited by a friend and did not have time to prepare well: I forgot a chair and a towel, and my board was not water-resistant for my usual wet-in-wet technique. The dry windy heat evaporated my distilled water very fast, and sitting for hours on the uneven ground, manipulating the water flow at an angle was challenging. Bugs were landing on the washes, and tourists gave their opinions :)

I am not a traditional watercolorist and not a fan of landscapes, but I found a nice building with cute various plants in front of it and one tall right behind it as if it grew from the roof. The critique suggestion was, that I should separate the lonely tree on the back from the roof with some imagined greenery - it does make sense for the composition, but might eliminate my initial attraction to the scene. So I need some time to contemplate before I continue working on the painting. I will add it here after I finish.

The event was organized by the San Diego Watercolor Society.