Rain and Watercolor

Rain is the death of watercolor. I knew I was in trouble when the clouds rolled in over the Crateri Silvestri in Sicily last month.


These cinder cones are high on the summit of Etna. I walked around their rims and gazed in, but the clouds closed in.


By the time I started a sketch, a steady drizzle started. The washes in the sky wouldn't dry. I leaned forward to intercept the drops. But you can see from the droplets in the sky that I couldn't block them. I just had to admit defeat and head down the mountain.