I really like Hart Park because it is close, you have the bridges, the river, the buildings, the field with bleachers to paint. No trains came by that I noticed. Lot of activity there and people exercising, running, walking... going in and out of the building. I think you could probably find a bathroom in the building if you needed to. Large parking lot. On one side of the parking lot they have these pavers that let the grass through. We stayed near the parking lot as this is an older crew. Mary was probably close to my age. She seemed nervous or maybe anxious. I just paint for fun, so if it turns out great. If not, I had a nice social time.
I arrived a little bit before Al, Kathy and Roger. Pat, Joyce's friend and Nylah were already on stools sketching and painting when we got there. Mary showed up a little while later. Cathy sat at table. I was going to sit there but couldn't figure out what to paint and there was a stiff breeze blowing which felt a little cool. I wandered around with Roger and Al picked a spot on the river bank. Mary came with us. So Al, Roger, Mary and I ended up sitting together on the steep bank of the river. It drizzled a little bit but not enough to wreck my watercolor sketches. When it was time to leave we had to help him up the bank as he had gotten stiff sitting on the jutting piece of concrete. I really admire that guy. He's a real goer, trouper and paints well.
I think I would like to come back and paint the white stone bridge that is near the street on the east end of hart park. I don't know when I will come back but I have pastels in my trunk and I'm going to keep the watercolors there too but I think I should put a better brush in. I sketch with a cheap prange water color kit in a multi-media sketchbook. Usually I switch out the prange brush and give it to the kids. The provided brush worked better than I thought it would but it would be nice to have a better brush. Two brushes are ideal, one to apply the paint and another to wick up the excess. I like to paint with both hands.
It was probably in the 60's. I wore my red and black stormy kruner hat with the pull down ear flaps. (Had to take my bun out and pull my hair into 2 ponies to fit this hat on my head, but my husband bought it for me and I love this hat for that reason. Stylish I am not.) I was wearing a long pants, t-shirt and flannel shirt already. However since it was cool and drizzling on and off, I pulled the lined flannel shirt and an old worn clothe raincoat with hood out of the car. The raincoat is a good windbreaker. Didn't need gloves. My hands were warm enough. Some gnats but not enough to bug us. An ant crawled around in my watercolor tray for awhile when we were painting sitting on the ground. No mosquitoes yet. No biting flies. I didn't see any ticks but that's less likely here. Al and Mary talked about last week's pride fest where clothing was quite skimpy. I guess it's ok in the city but I need to wear long sleeve shirt and loose cotton pants (not leggings) in the woods to avoid getting bit up. Sometimes I wear netting. I don't like wearing too much Deet as it makes me sick so I limit the bare skin. I tried "natural" bug spray but it makes me break out in red itchy blotches. Permatone on my pants works ok for ticks.
All in all, a good evening painting. After we left it started to rain a lot harder and I think it has continued through the night to this morning.
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