Lily Pond at Blake Garden, Kensington, CA

Blake Garden in Kensington is a popular spot for plein-air freaks like me, with over ten acres of ever-changing gardens to paint. The water lilies are really beautiful right now, and I'm afraid I didn't do them justice. Above is a piece of a watercolor that began ambitiously enough, only to suffer a severe cropping when things didn't go as planned, what with some paths leading nowhere, a planted terracotta pot smack in the middle of the piece, and a vague tree-like presence looming above it all. I often fall into the trap of including everything I see in front of me while I'm painting plein-air. Need to develop the discipline of more preliminary sketches.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 7, 2009 at 8:13 PM

    This turned out absolutely beautifully. I have the same problem of not wanting to slight any of the wonderful bits of the world in front of me by omitting them, but I guess we must cut--either in the beginning or at the end!

    ReplyDelete

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