The First Day in Ft. Bragg Continued

In the afternoon the sun shifted to the west, of course, and we were able to now look east toward the Noyo Harbor area.  There are a lot of great structures and boats here.  Enough material for days of slopping paint on canvas.  The main challenge is finding a spot to set up and to get the light right.  On this day, I painted from across the river.

I really like the scene.  I think I took several photographs so I should be able to tackle another version in the studio.  In this case I used a 10" x 20" canvas panel.  I like these 1:2 ratio canvas sizes. They are perfect for landscapes.  I wish I had brought more for the trip.  I feel that the buildings on the left are a bit weak.  I may see if I can punch them up a bit with some contrast.  The light was coming in from the west (right) and it was bright and intense.  I didn't really capture that...but I should be able to add it now without much reworking.

All in all it was a great first day at Ft. Bragg.  Beautiful weather and great landscapes to challenge any artist to do their best.

 Ruth Andre on the first day.  She had a very successful trip.  Ruth's fabulous blog and her posts on our Ft. Bragg workshop can be found here: http://apaintingday.blogspot.com/

Barbara found a great spot, but without an umbrella, that sun was BRIGHT!   Barbara and her husband Mario had just returned from New York where Barbara had a one-woman show.  The competition on these workshop trips is getting fierce!  Here's Barbara's website...you'll see why she was having a show in New York!! 
http://barbarafracchia.com/

Ted gets going on day 1.  The sign isn't kidding, especially if Ted has brought along Thalo Green.  Ted had a great trip and managed to do one of the best paintings of the four days.  We didn't take a vote, but if we had, Ted would have gotten the prize, I think.