Arizona, New Mexico and in to California

Two studys of Grand Canyon, week of May 16th, and I was not impressed, until I saw the IMAX movie which takes you through the canyon, whitewater rafting on the Colorado etc. The movie makes the canyon come alive!

Getz at Las Vegas... May 20-22 found me in Las Vegas... I was interested in the night lights on The Strip, but had no time to sketch them. I will, first chance  I get!... did get several daytime scenes done. I still prefer small towns with historic sites. 

Getz watercolor tour then found me in San Luis Obispo, California and what a drive to get there!! The first night out of Vegas found me just west of Bakersfield. Next morning, my GPS took me directly west on state route 58, rather than north on the interstate and then SW to San Lis Obispo...  what a mistake!!  Rt. 58 goes through the mountains on a narrow road with absolutely NO guard rails !!!  ...with very deep gorges around every bend in the road! I had sweaty palms for over two hours! When I mentioned this to the participants in San Luis Obispo, they let out a shudder! The. first day we sketched at the mission; as usual, the weather was ideal; the watercolors dried very fast. 

Day two, we were in the harbor at Morro Bay; so i did a two page spread to show the village.

The afternoon was spent sketching the landmark rock in the harbor... and it is really a beauty-huge! The cars and people were in the sketch to show the scale of the risk.

More on San Luis Obispo...This landmark is on the outskirts of town.

Getz in San Luis Obispo ... On Saturday, June 1st, I was invited to lecture at Cal Tech about the importance of drawing and I did a brief demo to illustrate how I use my 'plexi trick' to speed up the initial drawing process , which the students and instructors in attendance appreciated. I then headed up Route 1 for my next stop, Saratoga.

Getz tour...trying to get caught up, as time is flying by! Here is theGold King Mine sketch, as finished. I reallly like to lay color washes in, over just a portion of the ink  sketch, which is extremely hard to do, as you never know just when to stop!