Pear festival in my sketchbook

I recently had a chance to spend some time painting a couple of green pears.

Sketching Trio at the Channel Islands National Park

From August 25th till 28th I had an adventure. A bunch of sketchers and some non-sketching companions came to California Channel Islands National Park with the Sketching Trio: Gaye Kraeger, Suhita Shirodkar and myself.

We spent three days on the boat with short excursions onto the islands. We hiked, learned about the history of the place, kayaked, snorkeled, made friends, observed wildlife, shared knowledge.
We sketched, drew, painted, and journaled during all three days - on the boat and the shore. And even some in the water.
The boat and crew provided us with a place to sleep, delicious food, companionship, and a unique opportunity to see the Channel Islands National Park. Our requests were met with a smile and eagerness to make it the best trip possible. I felt well taken care of.
What I try to remember most about this trip is that feeling of sharing a unique, pristine place with a bunch of people that enjoyed doing what they were doing.
The boat's name was "Conception". It was its last trip before the one that ended in tragedy on September 2nd, 2019.
Right now it feels like this trip was in a different life, in a different world. I did not know if I should post this. What for. Why. But then I did.
I would like to show you some of the sketches from this trip. Share a tiny bit of that beautiful place in a spirit of doing what I love and sharing it with others.
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Map drawn on the evening when we all gathered in Santa Barbara:
Life on the boat did not agree with me but with some medicine and care, I got better. At first, all I could do was some blind contour or very quick sketches - without taking my eyes off the horizon. Click on the image to see it larger and perhaps you might be able to read some of the blindly-written things too.
I could not paint on the boat during the first two days and only an example of my fellow sketchers and their continuing support got me to do a couple of watercolors on day three.

On the shore I got my gouache kit out. 
We had a chance to snorkel and I sketched some of the underwater world and I did a super quick drawing of our boat from the kayak.

During our outings to the islands I tried to draw all kinds of treasures:



I am glad I had this chance to see the place. And spend this time with a great group of people. 
Suhita wrote a very thoughtful post with a different look at our trip and posting it on her blog - start here.