Back to China Camp

A half dozen of us, some members of the El Cerrito Art Assn. and others not, spent the morning at China Camp State Park. I like to paint there. Give me a beach and some sun and I'm a happy little camper. I think I did a little better this time. My attitude has changed. Now I'm more, just get the paint down on the paper, quit screwing around. No more wimpy little bleats of watery color. You've got two hours, Just Do It! So I'm getting down a very rough pencil sketch, not dinking around like I have a tendency to do. Mix up a nice soup of colors and go for it. Well, the results. Once you get it back home, you can always find plenty to not like. I tried to think about saving some light areas, but they mostly disappeared. The overall mood is pretty subdued, except for the bright sky, which now seems incongruous. And those white ripply things in the water just don't work, if they're waves, they're heading the wrong way. The hills in back are too intense in relation to the values of the beach and eucalyptus in front. But, all things considered, it's an improvement over the last one, so I'm happy.