I can't manage in cold weather for more than an hour painting or drawing outside. So this month has been about mixing colours (amazing what you can get from just yellow and blue and all the various pigments). I've also been trying to absorb the essence of the garden rather than representing one particular aspect. Using other senses, being aware of sounds and touch as well as what one absorbs though the eyes. How can I show the sound of a woodpecker with a mark?! Limiting the palette is a useful excersise and concentrating on just walking through the garden and absorbing the sense of place makes you pay more attention. . Overlapping marks and shapes is helpful and using collaged sketches from other papers helps create new ideas. Spring is showing through and the winter aconites (thank you Graham) particularly drew my eye - a carpet of burgening yellow on a dark soil background. That will definitely bring new ideas.
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