Membership in the East Bay Plein Air Painters has many benefits. The ability to paint a couple of times a month with various talented artists and the yearly dues gives the membership access to workshops/demonstrations during the paint-out schedules. This year's workshop/demonstration was conducted by local artist Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez* at Tilden Park's Botanical Gardens.
It was a overcast and cool day (usual in California for the Berkeley Hills area in the summer). The demonstration was one of the best I've attended. Rebeca gave us a running commentary of her process in capturing the scene before us in her painting. She explained her techniques with acrylic painting methods and gave us all pointers on composition, value and color harmony.
After the demo, I was able to get about the Garden and attempt some sketches of the various flora and fauna (as well as see what the painters were up to!). Even on a foggy day - there were marvelous views along the winding and climbing pathways.
Later I added some pen and watercolor to my pencil sketches and went back down to the "flatlands" for a bite to eat.
Here's a sketch that I made from photos of Rebeca (and a hummingbird that was spying on one of the artists at work that day). The hummingbird sat very still on that branch so I could get a zoom photo of it.
* Rebeca is also one of the founding artists of a similarly named plein air group (the collaborative East Bay Painters). Check out their blogs: East Bay Landscape Painters and the East Bay Figure Painting.
