I have been feeling all the stress of change and pushing forward into new territory, so I decided to do something soothing. I packed up two waterbrushes, a travel watercolor palette, and my little square sketchbook and spent the morning at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens. I took a long walk and lot of photos, but I really enjoyed sitting on benches, watching the bees, and painting.
This time of year, the gardens are buzzing with so many bees and butterflies. The garden feels thick, exuberant, and drowsy. It’s like a buzzy warm hug. And it was exactly what I needed.
Pollination at Work
Perennial Garden
I’ve written about my travel art kits in other posts, but this one is my favorite and the one I grab most often. Although today, I took both a small and a large waterbrush, when most times I only bring one. My favorite watercolors are in my ArtToolkit Folio palette. I love this palette so much. This setup fits in a book-style zippered pencil case.
These small sketchbook paintings are simple dots, lines, and shapes defined by color. I like painting small because it forces me to distill each thing down to the basics so it becomes semi-abstract. If I had a pen I would have been tempted to add little details and that would have spoiled the mood.
To break down a scene for a small plein air painting, I look at the large areas defined by color: the foreground lavender plants, the middle ground oranges and greens, and the background taller greens with a bit of purple. I start with light washes of color for each section and allow them to blend together a bit. When that is dry, I add stems (lines) and flowers (dots) in a shade darker (less dilluted). Finally, I add in the strongest colors for definition and detail. Working from light to dark, from large shapes to small details, and allowing it to dry between layers, your watercolors stay crisp but feel blended.
