"Morning Rocks" was painted 'en plein air' (outside) on the sand at Crystal Cove State Beach in California.   It was a warm early morning, and I was teaching a friend to paint plein air for her first time.  I chose this scene because rocks provide such great compositions, and painting the large objects always teaches me to keep my painting simple.  We sat on the beach and painted, using cigar boxes as our palettes to mix paint.  The colors that Spring morning were so vibrant as the sun rose.