Planning Sketches for Julie's Garden Modified

After emailing the scanned sketches to Julie, we discussed some minor adjustments to be made to the paintings...details that would tie the whole together cohesively, scale corrections, depth modifications, lighting consistency, etc.

Rather than make these modifications with actual paint on the charming little paintings, I prefer to use Coreldraw, and Corel Photo Paint to alter the scanned images.  Since I'm "painting" with a mouse, not a very exact tool, it does allow one to get an idea of how the alterations will look in the final paintings.  Here are the subtle changes and additions after my "digital" painting session tonight.

Planning Sketches for Julie's Garden Triptych

Earlier this year, I was approached about creating a painting, or series of paintings in honor of one of my loyal collectors' garden.  Armed with lots of photographs, we worked as a team to determine that a triptych (series of three canvases) would best capture her magnificent garden.

It wasn't until I visited the garden in person though that I actually got a real sense of the scale of the garden.  Truly a feast for the eyes, Julie's "woodland" garden is a haven full of interesting rock paths, ponds, sculptures, trees and of course a wide variety of plant specimens.  Many of these having special, personal significance to the gardener.  It's easy to see why this special place is a refuge and the hours spent working in it, keeping it resplendently beautiful are passionately fulfilled.

Mine is the task to portray this lovely sanctuary in a way that captures its spirit and sense of place.

So, to begin the project, we decided on a strategy - capturing a panoramic view of the garden.  For interest, we chose the left and right canvases to be 20 x 16" and the central canvas to be 20 x 24".  All three are 1.5" thick gallery-wrapped.  I rather like the portrait situation of the two flanking canvases creating an ethereal feel as well as allowing the viewer to peer deep into the scene.

I started with simple, very small scaled value sketches to work out the forms and composition of each canvas.  You can see that here:

Next, we met to discuss these sketches and refine our plan before going to the color planning sketches.  Learning more about the garden, plants that were significant, allowed us to make modifications to improve the composition and better meet the desired goal.  For example, in the central painting, the tree peony having special significance was given more prominence with the water fountain moved to the right.

Armed with this information, I was able to move forward and created the acrylic color sketches at 25% scale seen here.  Mirrored curving paths on the left and right canvases help move the eye back through the scene and tie the whole group together.  Stay tuned for more details as the project proceeds!

Where I've Been...

Well, strangely, I haven't been in the studio in the last few months.  I've heard of artists taking a break and for a long time, I haven't done that.  That changed this year.

So why the break?  A number of reasons really.  I injured my ankle, making it hard to stand at the easel for extended periods of time.  Happily that's better.  Got engrossed in reading novels...thanks to my hubby and my sore ankle.  It's hard to pull oneself away from an exciting read to go paint!  Once the record-setting oppressive summer ended, I actually got inspired to work in the garden.  And boy did I work.  I'm happy to say that we actually have a planned landscape and that I managed to design and plant it all on my own!  Well, not exactly, the gardeners at Southwoods Nursery were extremely helpful.

But, finally, thanks to a loyal collector of my work, I'm back in the studio, starting an exciting "garden" project of a different sort...see the next post for more details.