We were told that Carmel Beach was voted the Best Beach in the country. Or maybe it was on the west coast, or maybe “just” in California. It was tricky to find parking, and a place to paint sitting down in the shade. I found a low bench but was still able to peer over the shrubbery and through the cypress trees.

This time I used a miniature pochade (pronounced “po-SHOD”) box with a bungie cord holding the 8×10″ canvas board. Since I was on a bench, I put my palette next to me. The box lid is the support, but it wobbles because I dropped it in the workshop a week before I left and busted a hinge. Sigh. It has an attachable palette, but I didn’t want one more little thing to struggle with and ultimately get paint all over stuff because I was unfamiliar with how it worked.

Good enough to fix later. I NEED to walk on the beach!

The water was much farther away than it appeared, and the waves were MUY FABULOSO.

That gal waited until the waves got a bit tamer, and then she went in. I told her that I thought she was brave, and as I was waiting to see what she was going to do with those massive waves, I began to wonder if she was suicidal. She said that she might have been if she didn’t cool off from the terrible heat wave. What, 85°??

I could have stayed there all day. I keep thinking that if I stare at the waves long enough, I will understand how to make them look good in 2-dimensions. But without a camera, I don’t think I can really get a sense of where they are dark, light, fuzzy, clean-edged, and the patterns of water movement.

I seem to be destined to be a studio painter.