Mission San Jose, Fremont

In the Cemetery

This is a lovely mission church with a small garden and cemetery. There are views of the hills behind. I sketched in the cemetery area first the brush pen sketch below, then the painting above. I tried hard not to mix very wet paint into my washes and avoided the backruns. I was quite pleased with some of my greens - remembering to add some reds in there. There are times when I think I might be getting the hang of watercolor.
After lunch a few of us went into the Olive Hyde Art Gallery and saw the juried show on display. There were some beautiful watercolors by Michelle Goll-Smith, Janice Shafir and Robin Worthington. It was interesting to note that the only two pieces that sold were small, traditional, oil landscapes - they were lovely though.

Brush Pen Sketch of the Mission Tower

Later I tried a full view of the mission, but it didn't work out well at all. My values were all off so that one's for the bin.

Villa Maria, Stevens Creek Park

I was all excited over the Hawk last week so I forgot to post my Villa Maria paintings. Anyway here they are. I did another little postcard - not quite as nice as the one I did of the Five Wounds.
Then I tried a little jumble of fallen limbs against a backdrop of Eucalyptus and foliage. I often get impatient and go back into my washes before they are dry and this was a typical case where I ended up with backruns. I had a stab at correcting it at home, which I something I never normally do.