There isn't an urban sketching group along the Florida panhandle, but I met up with the Emerald Coast Plein Air Painters on Wednesday. Painting seascapes and palm trees is a lot different than painting historic buildings in urban centers. It took me a couple hours to do the little painting of an old fishing dock and I spent another hour on the pelican. While there were plenty of live birds mingling around the park looking for food handouts, I opted to paint the statue. It wasn't likely to fly away.
We met at Fort Walton Landing at 8 o'clock in the morning, which for me meant driving through Destin in rush hour traffic. I don't think it would have been that bad, except for the miles and miles of road construction. They're widening Hwy 98 to 6 lanes. It was a talented group to meet up with, but unless they're painting somewhere closer to my condo, I think I'll pass on future outings. The condo snowbirders meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays for arts & crafts, so I'll probably stick to painting with them.
