Scenes from the desert
Posted: January 25, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized 22 CommentsIt’s break time for me — in between one Madeline Island School workshop group leaving and one arriving tomorrow — so I thought I’d take some time and post a few of my favourite sketches from the week. The image quality is not great because these are photographed sketches instead of scanned ones, but you’ll get the idea.
Overall it was a fantastic week. We had some chilly weather and high winds which made sketching outside a bit challenging, but the group was fun and very talented and I think a good time was had by all.
One of my first sketches, before I started teaching, was the view from my room. I’m always amazed by the shapes and patterns of the desert vegetation, and ocotillo is one of my favourite plants. I’m told that it does turn green in the spring but right now, it’s just a bunch of prickly sticks, standing straight up in clumps. Not that colourful to draw but I love the shadows it casts on the ground.
When I’m here, I always spend some time drawing the horses at Tanque Verde Ranch. One of the best places to draw them is to go up to the pancake breakfast at the old homestead. The horses are parked there waiting for their riders, so it’s the perfect place to sketch them.
One of the colours I always bring with me when I sketch in Arizona is Cerulean Blue Hue from Da Vinci. It’s a pigment that has some Phthalo Blue in it, and it’s perfect for the bright Tucson skies. I wet the sky with clear water first and then swirled some blue into it to convey the wind that was whipping up the sand around us.
The panoramic views of the Rincon mountains were quite spectacular this week, and my favourite time of day to sketch the saguaros are in the morning when they are backlit and they have a white halo around them.
And of course, no week is complete without a sketch of the old chuckwagon! If you want to come along to draw with me next year, I’ll be back from January 19-23, 2026. It sure is a great escape from the grey skies of winter.
Nice!
Good Afternoon dear friend Shari,
All the images are superb, especially the last one.
I follow, and never miss your art .
I am bit busy and couldn’t post my comments regularly.
Apologies.
All the best and good luck.
Wishing you, happy and wonderful days always.
Regards and blessings.
Uma
Hi Shari
Thanks for this quick trip to the desert, away from Montreal and its wet-cold snowiness. As always, I love your ‘light’ and your colours do remind me (very fondly) of the desert. Really nice chuck wagon to boot! Have a great week 🙂
Always a pleasure to see your fabulous paintings! Looking at these with chuckwagons and horses, I’m humming the (great) song, “l should have been a Cowboy”😂
You captured the desert beautifully.
I spent a lot of time in Palm Springs where my parents had a condo.
I love the desert – the climate, the air, the dry heat.
One day I will join you for one of your watercolour retreats!
Susan
We also visited White Stallion Ranch near Tuscon AZ and I am familiar with Tanque Verde as well.
Susan
I always enjoy your travel sketches! Thanks for the tip on Davinci cerulean blue. I use l have used it for years so did not realize it’s different from others.
I find the quality great! Enjoy.. Its still chilly here thanks goodness Im ok with winter;)
Hi Shari! These are such a ray of sunshine! I especially like the saguaros. Beautiful!
Love these paintings of the Southwest. Tho I have been to Arizona, I have never seen a Saguaro cactus.
Yes, Shari, it was a great break from a cold great winter and you made it the best break. Loved painting with you and learning sooooo much about creating color and beautifully composed sketch book pages.
Lovely paintings. Maybe one year I will make it to Arizona for your classes. The location is so beautiful.
Beautiful! And inspiring.
Thank you for sharing.
Your painting are always wonderful–especially when you tell us the limited palette you have used. That last painting is my favorite, though!
Great paintings and blog. Thank You!
Love these especially the chuck wagon with its textured background!,
Wonderful. Did you do the drawing with ink before painting!
I can’t believe a year has passed since I was there learning from Shari and being the the fine company of my class of sketchers. Shari’s sketches bring it all back in vivid memories covered with watercolor.
I’m happy to know everyone had fun, learned much, and benefited, as I did, from spending time with our great teacher.
You have captured the light so beautifully. It brings to mind the desert paintings of the great Trevor Chamberlain.
Thank you Patricia. That is the highest praise, indeed. I am a real fan of the work of Trevor Chamberlain but I had never really seen his warm climate paintings. They remind me very much of the work of Lucy Willis, another artist who has painted in sun blasted places like Morocco and Egypt. I love her work too.
What a lovely capture of the chuckwagon—the light, texture, and cast shadows are beautifully done. Thanks for sharing this!
These make me smile since the subjects are so different from the snow I’m seeing outside my windows. The light is lovely and the textures make me want to reach out and touch your subjects.