Big Sur

 

Big Sur2, just south of Carmel
7" x 10" watercolor
Arches 100% cotton hot press paper

This carries some influence from a class I'm taking offered by Rick Surowitz, a watercolor artist from Ohio. Or actually the painting below does, which is the original version: 

Big Sur1, just south of Carmel
10" x 14" watercolor
Arches 100% cotton cold press paper

In both cases I'm using a color selection that Rick uses. The assignment was to paint a fairly simple water/shore scene. 

I wasn't so happy with the blah sky in version 1 or with the hard edges in the water, which made the waves look static. I did like the rocks, however.

In version 2, I like the sky and water better. I wish I could have the rocks back from version 1, but overall, I believe Version 2 is more my style. 

I highly recommend Rick for beginning or intermediate watercolorists. His 1.5-hour classes meet weekly for 6 weeks.  Each week he does a live demo with plenty of time to ask questions. Students submit homework (unsigned) weekly that he critiques with a recorded video. He also sets up a Facebook page for student sharing/discussion. At $130 for the 6-week class, I definitely feel I'm getting my money's worth.