Daily Painting

This was done at the beach in Capitola. I am intimidated by figures, but fascinated at the same time. What drew me to this boy lying on the sand was his stars-and-stripes shorts, and the way the light hit the top of his body - my eye could follow the line of light from his feet to his neck. I tried to capture that. I drew it quickly in pen and then did very loose washes.

We just returned from Japan where I carried all my watercolor stuff - at the risk of brush hairs getting bent/mishandled and my supplies getting lost [God forbid!] and did all of two postcard sized paintings. I felt at a loss when I started painting after my vacation - I felt I didn't know how to start and felt I had forgotten everything :-( Not like riding a bike..... This is at the San Jose History Park. I was drawn to this retro truck and retro gas station with the caption/ad to ONLY use Associated Products. I was there until lunch plans with a friend from out of town, so left after this quick painting. What is missing? Too washed out? The husband likes it, so I am gathering the courage to post it. Also, I KNOW I will feel differently [better?] about it in a few weeks, after some distance and with some more objectivity.