San Pablo

I took a long walk today in the wind, rain, mud and occasional hail at San Pablo NWR. It's near Sear's Point, so in some places the roar of the race cars was a constant background. But it was full of birds and the views were nothing short of expansive. I've never seen so many avocet or marbled godwits in one place. The avocets were just starting to shift into breeding plumage. I did some sketches, but no paintings today. Here's a print I've been working on of an avocet. I'm starting to experiment with printing multiple blocks instead of reduction printing. So far my registration seems to be pretty good. But with this print I did this on a block of pine I had kicking around cause I thought the grain might be nice with the water pattern, but it made it hard to get the detail in the avocet. Every print is a learning experience.