Although it was only 8:30 in the morning, the sun was already risen well into a hot blue sky. People led cows into the livestock building, hitched them to the cow wash. Goats bleated. The smells of barbecue and livestock mingled in the warm air. The fair was definitely afoot.
The California State Fair invites artists to come to the fairgrounds for two days and scribble, paint, sketch, whatever. Some artists went with elaborate easels, oil paint and I don’t know what else. We went simple, with watercolor, acrylics or pen and ink. I didn’t even want to think about finding a way to clean brushes with turpentine in an ecologically friendly manner at a state run facility.
We did sketches and watercolors. The judges wanted impressionist oils. No ribbons this year, but we did have a lot of fun sketching and painting. There are all kinds of fun subjects at the fair, not all of them human.