Progress in the Studio

The heat seems to be making me muzzy-minded tonight so I'll make this short.  

The first thing we all did when we got to the studio for class today was give Sharon our money for the latest order of sable brushes.  Excellent news that Sharon as a small business owner and as one who has placed several orders in the past was given a good discount on all brushes.  Nice, since as you can imagine, sable "doesn't come cheap".  The other bit of good news on this front is that it appears the US has lifted the embargo on sable - for brushes, anyway.  That last bit has to be checked a bit further before we get all excited about it, and even then, who know if US imported brushes will be the same price we are paying now or more or less expensive?  Time will tell.

Then we all settled down to work on whatever our current project is.  One student is trying out a variety of media trying to get a good feel for the best fit.  She worked on pencil sketches today.  Another woman is continuing with her exploration of acrylic paints; she's done quite a few and has mixed feelings about them.  That leaves three of us chasing the elusive magic of water color.  

My time was spent on another study for the mews.  I experimented today with seeing if I could paint the buildings without laying down a pencil sketch first.  It is possible, but with buildings, doorways, windows, etc., I think I will draw very lightly first.  Another thing I worked on was adding some additional items to make this area looked lived in - flower pots, window boxes, and a few other things.  

My plan at this moment is to do some sketches of those new additions, and then start two paintings as final drafts hoping that at least in one of them, I can stay out of my own way.