Waiting for Peaches

WAITING FOR PEACHES

22"x36"

Watercolor

This is my first full sheet watercolor, or at least it's the first one that I'm halfway proud of. I've played with watercolor for years, mostly using it in my art and travel journals, and I've done other full sheet paintings but most have been torn up or washed off and the paper used for something else. This one is fine with me and I won't trash it... yet! Now I'm not looking for compliments; I see its faults, thank you very much, and it's nowhere near having the abstract qualities I'm aiming for, but it's a step in the right direction and just maybe I'll get out another sheet and do another one from the same inspiration.

After wearing only a light jacket outdoors for the last week or so we woke up this morning to snow on the trees but none sticking to the surfaces that are still warm from yesterday's sunshine. As you can see, the color in my backyard isn't reserved for summer. The coral bark maple on the left adds warmth to the garden and there's always color in the conifers that ring our property. The Japanese gardeners talk about "borrowed scenery" and we have that aplenty with pines next door and fir and cedar behind us and down the hill. I keep trying to draw this forest but its hard for me to eliminate the detail and choose just one thing to draw.