The Gardener

This is a photo of Jerry sitting under the young oak at the corner of the sun room. It was one of those very hot and very sunny days in the summer of 2012. The sun was shining through the tree and the hat onto his face leaving patterns of sunlight that were mesmerizing and screamed for a painting.
I downloaded the image to the computer, saved it, then printed it off for reference.
As I prepared the watercolor paper and thought about how I wanted to express the magic I saw the day before under that tree, I decided he needed to be up close just like in the cropped photo. I use the computer as a viewfinder trying out different compositions. The picture library helps me make some decisions I used to use pencil and paper to accomplish. I work out the value here as well.
I wanted the background to be very "watercolorish" with no details--only colors and hints of a green summer day.

Here is the finished watercolor now hanging in Les Bourgeois Winery in Rocheport Missouri. It was very sunny the day we hung the exhibit but I wanted a few photographs--though they were not the best quality.Thanks to James and Heather and of course my gracious model and best friend Jerry for helping to hang the exhibit.