I’ve had a studio on Campobello Island now for over 20 years. As you might imagine, quite a bit of inventory has built up during that time, even though I’ve sold the bulk of it. I can’t stop making paintings—I love it, and I’ll never “retire” from it—but I thought it might be time to scale back. But rather than scale back on the number of paintings, I decided to scale back on the size. For me, this meant sketching in gouache in a 5×8 watercolor journal.
So, it’s been a summer of gouache. (Yes, I’ve done a few oil or pastel paintings, mostly as demonstrations for workshops or painting retreats, but I really set my focus on gouache. I’ll wait until I get back to New Mexico to get back seriously with the oil painting.) My choice also serves as preparation for my next project—gouache in Scotland.
So, stay tuned for some free posts about my adventures there! I’ll be gone the entire month of September. Will I fill one journal? Two? We’ll see!
In the meantime, here is a selection of sketches from this summer. They’re presented in “gallery” format, so if you click on each item, you’ll be able to see the full, linked image. The sketches are all 5×8 or 5×16 and are not for sale — I keep them for reference.
