Sketches Amongst the Potted

Today I finally had time to sit down and enjoy this absolutely gorgeous afternoon! The sun broke through the coastal fog and suddenly the world was aglow with light and shadow, not gloom and grey. That is the standard weather along the California coast, May Grey and June Gloom. It is dull and boring and monotonously monochrome.

I have a lot of potted flowers on a side patio – my yard is worthless for any beauty at this point. First up, the bigger sunflower in ink and paint.

And then the smaller of the two.

Sunflowers are far harder to paint than I think – don’t know why! From there, I decided to look at the tulip tree peeping over the fence a few blocks away. Here I tried to focus on masses of light and dark. It was a bit hard, but the idea was there. I am using my Schmincke pan paints, and they need to be worked a bit to get dense colors, which can be frustrating!

Lastly, my beloved lemon verbena bush. Every year I cut it back, every year it comes back. The leaves were half in the sun, half in the shade. I don’t have any of the delicate white flowers it produces, but the leaves always delight, in shape and scent.

It was fun to sit in the sun a bit. I don’t usually do this, so letting things dry between colors and pictures took a bit of patience. Plein air is not something I ordinarily do, but why not practice it along with patience?

More to come!