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The Original Frozen Banana, 9 x 7½" watercolor

I was wrong. It was my fourth day, my third full day, that I painted Hidden House Coffee. The first day, I spent within the walls of Mission San Juan Capistrano, painting the ruins of a church. Visit my web site blog post.

The afternoon of my second full day, I drove to Balboa Island to paint the landmark Frozen Banana place that earlier I had put on my mental checklist of things to paint. If it’s anything like Krispy Kreme is to North Carolinians, and I lived in the area, paintings of this place would be a bread and butter money-maker for me. But alas! I live in North Carolina, and, dollars to doughnuts, paintings of Frozen Banana establishments here would be about as popular as Krispy Kreme shop paintings would be in California.

California

Hidden House Coffee, 7 x 9½" watercolor

It was my second day in California. Just, the day before, I had been introduced to California freeways when I’d dropped my second cousin off at John Wayne Airport, just south of L.A.  It was a good introduction, still dark out, the rush traffic had just begun to build.

It was also my second day to head for San Juan Capistrano, not so very far from where I was staying in Laguna Niguel. There was a parking lot there near the Amtrak station that allowed five hours free parking. I’d been given rave reviews of nearby Hidden House Coffee, and it was my intent to paint it. Between coats of paint, I could slip in and grab a coffee. This style of watercolor requires two coats, a very loose wet coat, which, when totally dry, is followed by a second coat of calligraphic brushstrokes that define the details.