From my sketchbook, plus...

Windswept Grays

As you can see this one is in my little 3.5 x 5.5" Moleskine watercolor sketchbook. The image itself is 2 x 3.5". The color of the close-up is closer to the real thing, but I wanted you to see how small it is in real life. I enjoyed playing with the back-lighting on the cloud, and in this case I think the white paper made it work pretty well. (However, I use black masking tape, so when I'm painting the image looks like it's on black paper, in a way. It's interesting to remove the tape and have a nice white 'mat'.)

I must learn how to make these images a little closer to squared up! I never could find level or plumb without a ruler...

Fiery Winter Day

I've painted frequently from this favorite photo that I took alongside the highway in the Taos Canyon a long time ago. I love the reds and oranges of the winter willows and the dormant tree adds a lot of drama, too. This one is 3.5 x 2" in size.

In case you wonder, no, the sketches in my Moleskine are not for sale. I only sell the ones that are loose. Maybe one of these days I'll have the whole sketchbook for sale, but at present I don't plan that. These are just for me to enjoy doing, although someone suggested I consider making a book of my sketches and sell it on one of those POD printers like Lulu.com. I kind of like that idea! We'll see.

Cottonwood Morning, $20 delivered in the US

This is on Somerset Black Velvet. I decided to discipline myself and cut some paper in different sizes, to challenge myself not to make everything random in size--a sign of my hasty nature! So this image is 4.5 x 3" in size. (Now, tell me why I thought that wasn't random! LOL I don't know!)

The place is Elena Gallegos again, a hiking area nestled at the foot of the Sandia Mountains. I liked the light on the tree and grasses, which particularly please me here. I think I really caught the textures of the grasses and the black paper works very well.

Deborah Secor

deb@deborahsecor.com