Tom and I were fortunate to be able to escape Buffalo’s winter for two weeks in February. We love Key West, the architecture, the plants, the birds, the people, the arts community, the beaches – very different from the rest of Florida, and enjoyable for both of us, no small task!
I sketch in Key West, and I painted twice with the Key West Plein Air Painters. I also took a class from Sean Callahan at the Studios of Key West. It was a good two weeks for me. I love to draw in my 5″ x 8″ Moleskine sketchbook, using ink pens, and watercolors. I often sketched on site and then add watercolor at the kitchen table. That’s how these sketches were done.
Sometimes I don’t add any color. The architecture or plant form is enough.
Sometimes I work with both ink and watercolor on site. These are small “sketch paintings.”
The beach scene from Englewood, Florida, spans an open Moleskine. I tried using different colored pens when we were waiting for dinner and enjoying the surroundings at Blue Heaven. Not sure that this one is successful, but it is fun.
This ink sketch and the watercolor were both done at the kitchen table after a disappointing failure on site. We were having a lovely brunch at La Creperie. My perspective was too off to complete, so I worked from a photograph on Tom’s iPad. Much better.
Every time we visit Key West, I sketch or paint the sea grape. I love the way light shines through brightening its colors. This is pen and watercolor pencil minus the water.
I enjoyed painting with the Key West Plein Air Painters. It was a challenge. The light and architectural and plant forms are so different from Buffalo. It will take me some years to become comfortable. These are the two paintings I did, no ink in either.
For fun I sat in on two sessions of a watercolor class at the Studios at Key West. The teacher artist, Sean Callahan and I do not have similar approaches to watercolor, but it’s always interesting to keep an open mind. Everyone worked off the same photograph provided by Sean. Here’s my painting from the first week, done on the kitchen table. I couldn’t complete the second one, instead I sketched Sean and then added the subject, yellow eggs!!! over the top of my sketch. Pretty silly, it expresses my frustration.
I reinforced what I already know, I love to sketch and paint my surroundings, not from others photographs.
Thank you to Joanne Sloan for introducing me to the Key West Plein Air Painters!
Thanks for letting us travel with you!
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Love your key west drawings. I have never been there but they have a light happy feel and kind of explain how you feel about the place.
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It’s a wonderful place. We will go back.
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Carol,
Prolific and beautiful!
I am in awe of your gifts for perspective, subject, and accomplished use of colors. It’s joyous to see. (You make me want to sketch.)
My wife Anne and I frequently travel to Sarasota and love the environs.
Thank you for sharing your post!
Patrick
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My pleasure, Patrick!
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Carol, I love to see and hear of your adventures. It is wonderful that you do not inundate with posts so that when you do share it is interesting and fun. My husband and I went to Key West for our honeymoon 27 years ago. I have to decide which print to buy him for our anniversary!
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We had our honeymoon there in 2002!
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An artist heaven Key West. And oh the flowers the food the zany inhabitants and the chickens. Fell in love with them in Key W
est.
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I wish I’d sketched a rooster! Next year.
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I sat on some steps of a lawyers office and sketches a whole strip of the post office chickens last summer. Great fun. Roosters were on guard protecting the hens and chicks
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As always, thank you for the virtual vacation, you are so talented n nlooking forward to hearing you speak at Rotary
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I am looking forward too!
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