61.  Original Plein Air Watercolor Painting, “Plein Air, 4-5pm, Waves washing over rocks at Point Arena Sea Lion Rocks, Overcast / foggy, 9.19.24”, watercolor, 22 x 30”, 2024

Location: Mendocino, CA

Event: Mendocino Open Paint Out

Event Awards: Best In Show - Watercolor

Work-Specific Awards: Best In Show - Watercolor

Many of the lessons I’d been working on, including the color of the surface of the water on a foggy day, the action of waves washing in and out in tidal conditions, the structure of the cliffs, came together in this piece, the last I had intended to make for the Mendocino show. I was right at the edge of a short cliff, undercut rock even, maybe 30 feet above the surface of the water. Falling in would be unpleasant but probably not fatal, but I kept a safe distance from the edge. As I was finishing this painting, I noticed just to the right of this framing a cormorant holding still on a rock ledge, about twenty feet away. The bird held the pose for an hour and a half, more than enough time for a 75-minute painting from life, which is “Plein Air, Cormorant, 9.19.24”.