Yosemite

Our family just spent a few days in Yosemite, staying at the Doctors cabin, while my son-in-law did his 4 day rotation at the clinic.  It was a privilege to actually stay in a house large enough that we didn't trip over each other too much.  Two years ago we came for an overnighter and five of us were squished into a small cabin at Camp Curry.  We had to squeeze to walk around the rollaway bed to get to the bathroom.

My family is nuts about exercise and hiking and they come by it naturally, but I wanted to find some time to get out in the scenery and do some painting. It was deja vue when I saw a woman walking toward me carrying painting gear.   She was part of the Art association and taught classes for a $5 donation from 10-2, Monday-Saturday.  My only chance!  I gathered my art stuff and joined them and we painted in a meadow for the next three hours.  

Here is my critique of my own efforts:  I painted this scene with the old Oak tree as the main focal point.  When I review it, it looks more like an oil painting and less like a watercolor.  It is funny how you get so caught up in the moment that you try to replicate rather than represent the emotion and feeling, the play with the paint and color.  So, when I got back that afternoon, I tried painting the same scene a little more freely, playing with the paint, letting the colors mingle and the white show through.  Toward the end, I felt myself doing some finite detail and stopped.  What do you think?  I'm looking again and want to refine more... aargh!

Original Oak tree.  See the people?

Replica. I like the foreground, but the mountain is too....