As my Gold Country Spring Break trip neared, rain (and snow flurries) were forecast from Sunday to Tuesday.

This throws a wrench into my sketching plans in my base camp of Murphys. Sketching with rain smears your efforts into a soggy mess. No matter. I would just use my waterproof, movable, sketching blind, ie my car!

I definitely had the historic Murphys Hotel on my sketch-list. Main Street in Murphys is a very busy place (especially on weekends) so arrived early in morning while visitors were sleeping off their wine induced stupors.

I easily found a spot across the street for a rainy day sketch of this Gold Country landmark. I pulled out my journal and began my sketch (featured sketch).

While exploring the side streets of Murphys, I came upon the Murphys’ 1850 schoolhouse.

The rain taps were opened so I found a parking spot and sketched the profile of the school. I normally might have sketched the structure head on but because of the rain I was forced to sketch the school from a perspective I might not have considered.