Last evening we enjoyed the delicate colors that the high desert uses to paint the mountains and skies.

I had a rather uncomfortable night with back spasms and other aches and pains probably from unloading the car. Artists do not travel light. However, I finally emerged from my bed-ridden state and managed to fit in a walk and some sketching.

We walked down our road toward Abiquiu Lake. It is a winding route through the mesas and we never reached the lake. I thought it  best to stop after a mile in deference to my legs and back. However, along the way we enjoyed the high desert in bloom and a memorial to someone’s grandmother.

And yes, JP, we did some drawing today. I have set myself the goal on this trip to explore line, value, color, and shape. How does one begin? How do these interact? Can one be used without the others? What is foremost? Does it change with the subject? Yesterday a particular stump of a pinon tree caught my eye as a great subject for my first experiments. I began with line, but quickly decided that I needed value to make a portrait. All of my attempts with this subject I will call Quixhote’s Ghost.

Jean entered into the fun and drew the same stump with water soluble graphite.

Next I will try shapes and colors to see what happens.

This evening we sit in our mesa-top home looking east to Lake Abiquiu and the  mountains beyond. Soon the sun will sink and we will have those wonderful colors that I showed at the beginning of the post.

Life is good.

Paul