Today I set the easel at the edge of a pickleweed marsh in full sun. I’d no sooner gotten the first color strokes roughed in when suddenly the marsh was swaddled in cool gray tones. Not a shadow in sight. Fog moves fast.
It started to drizzle an hour later so I packed it in. I’d been painting from my initial thumbnail sketch while grabbing – and pushing- color clues from the landscape.
The pickle weed marshes along the coast turn brilliant colors in the fall. New England has leaf peeping. Could California’s version be pickle peeping? Send for the tour bus.
(The painting is pastel on sanded paper, and sorry I don’t know the exact size but it’s under 9×12)
Drawing The Motmot 
So lovely and peaceful.
Beautiful job, as always. I like that your crispest strokes are of the far hills, and the foreground is a bit more out of focus. I’m guessing that this is because of the fog rolling in but it’s a clever way to shift the composition.
Keep on pickle-peeping!
Amelia
AMELIA HANSEN ILLUSTRATION & DESIGN Connecting People and the Earth Through Art
email: amelia@ameliahansen.com or info@ameliahansen.com phone: 269-353-2052 website: http://www.ameliahansen.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ameliahansenillustration