We did a class project which was based on a photo of a big wave. It involved a lot of masking for the white foam areas, including some splattered on by flipping the end of a brush. My masking fluid is nearly white and hard to see, so I got a bit carried away with the splatters, but I like it. I wanted the white spray to stand out against the blue sky, but my first wash was too light and I kind of messed it up going over it again. It makes it look a bit stormy, which is OK, but not what I intended. Sometimes you just have to make the best of your accidents and mistakes.
Then we did another project which was a beach scene at Carmel, from one of Ron's photos. I seem to be having trouble starting paintings with the sky. This time I accidently got a blob of dark brown on my brush and streaked it across the sky. I washed it all off and started over, and it came out pretty good. One of the things I liked about the photo was the reflections on the wet sand, and I like the way that turned out.
I finished up the Carmel beach scene at home, and at the next class, everyone was still working on the beach. Maureen and I had just spent a long weekend with our kids and grandkids playing in the snow near Bear Valley. I looked through the photos on my iphone and found one of a little creek in a snowy forest. It's a simple layout without much to it but snow, water and trees, but I like it.