An Afternoon Outing, Sketching by the Sea

I spent a bit of afternoon sketching with Pete Scully, who was visiting Santa Monica - his account of the weekend is here.

While I've sketched at Santa Monica Pier numerous times, sketching together and chatting with a fellow sketcher made me look at the familiar scene with fresh eyes. Using a panoramic format (a Handbook panoramic sketchbook that I found in my stack of sketchbooks) made me notice the expanse of the ocean and the sky. I don't like the crease in the middle of the spread, but this sketch is a fun reminder of escaping my daily routine in my own town.