Capturing the light of Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Sometimes when I’m out hiking I see a scene I need to capture through drawing or painting. Here is a quick sketch of Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

Quaint library in Paso Robles

Spent a few days in Paso Robles and while waiting for my beloved wife, Katya, to finish her shopping I did a quick sketch of the library.

Villa Palma

I wanted to do a landscape watercolor painting but was too lazy to go out.  I discovered a site that recommended using Google Street View as a source of subjects for compositions.  So after playing around with GSV I discovered Villa Palma in Italy and decided to do a watercolor sketch on hot press watercolor paper.  I have always used cold press paper and found the switch to hot press a little unsettling at first.  The paint drys fast on hot press making it more difficult to do wet-in-wet.  You have to carefully think through your strokes as you work the composition.  The color does seem a bit more saturated on hot press paper.  Below is the watercolor sketch followed by the reference photo.