Hillside Lily Pond

Oh how I love painting in a water garden!  The gentle babbling of the water and movement of the fish are restorative.  After a week full of painting architecture, the solace of this garden has been a welcome retreat.  For this painting, I began with India ink, sketching out my scene.  Next, I moved in with a water soluble ink to establish values.  To this, I added watercolor, to capture the color in the landscape.  I could paint here all month and never paint it all!  Painting number 2384 in 2384 days.

Lily in the Pond

I have wanted to try my hand at painting water lilies for years!  The lilies at Powell Gardens are so beautiful this year - I knew this was my chance!  Working from a wonderful photo I took at the paint-out, I set out with my oils on a small panel.  (With company here most of the day - small is all I could work in tonight!)  I actually had fun painting this - and I have always been intimidated by these little beauties!  I will be painting another landscape with a broader scope of the pond one day soon.  I couldn't get the blues to show true in this nighttime photo - so I will try to take one during the daylight hours tomorrow.  This is painting number 184 in as many days.  Now, I'm going to go out and watch some more fireworks!  That's the great thing about living in the country - 4th of July is a non-stop week of fireworks displays each night :)

Lily on the Pond
Oil on panel, 6x6
Powell Gardens Lily Pond