Once every year, mostly in winter, we hit the ‘quad’ to do the majestic Memorial Church or MemChu, the distinctive California palms or the Rodin sculptures. The quad is chosen so that we can have shelter from the rains that California has not seen in the past few years, yet the organizers feel the need to be prepared for a sudden downpour. Saturday of Feb 20, the day of our plein air, it was as though the weather wanted us to paint. The clouds parted, letting in just enough amount of sun shine yet keeping some clouds in the sky for good composition. Troves of tourists and their selfie sticks amused us – the 5 devoted weekend painters who went about their practice.
Uma was firmly against painting the Rodin sculptures yet again and was singing high praises of Boo-Qwilla, a totem pole on campus that she intended to paint.
Presenting, Boo-Qwilla! by Uma Kelkar
Alison was enamored by the Hoover tower and entertained by a theatre group rehearsing nearby. Robert Massey and his mom painted the quad – brave souls – and sun bathed as they did so. Caroline was also taken by the Hoover tower and decided to do a pen and ink version just like Dick often does.
Having been satisfied with a totem pole sketch, Uma decided it was time to do something different. She made a contour sketch with 2 lines (in the middle below) and then proceeded to color it while the ink from the sketch ran. That only meant that she had to forgo the water in watercolors and use the pigments in gouache style.
Quad by Uma
