More Sky Sketches

Here are a couple more watercolor sketches done in preparation for my upcoming workshop. The first is sunset on the Cockscomb butte in Sedona, and the second is a monsoon storm in the hills near Jerome. August is a great time of year to do these sky sketches as we have thunderstorms and spectacular sunsets just about every afternoon. These were painted in studio following observations in the field. To be honest, I've never been much of a 'plein-air' painter. I much prefer the control I have working in studio - and I don't get bugs in my paint.

© Dave Wilder

Under Western Skies

I'm shaking the cobwebs out for an upcoming workshop I'll be leading on painting skies in watercolor. I've been sketching pretty much daily, trying to capture the color and drama of our Southwestern skies, and these two little paintings (each 14x10") are the first of many I'll be preparing for the class.


I rarely do straight landscapes anymore, but the elements of landscape - skies in particular - play an important roll in much of my work. Dramatic skies often dominate and define a landscape, but capturing them in watercolor can be a real challenge. Learning to paint clouds and skies effectively is the key to success with most watercolor landscapes, and that's why I'll be focusing on them almost exclusively in this workshop. There's a whole bag full of techniques that I use and my challenge is to distill them down into something that my students can understand and use.

This is a quick, six hour workshop, sponsored by the El Valle Arts Association in Cottonwood, AZ. The date is Saturday, September 27 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Check their website or contact me for more info.

© Dave Wilder