Spring greenery

Our yard has exploded in green recently.  So when there was a break in the cloudy coverage of the last few days, I grabbed my easel and backpack and rushed out the door.  Sometimes you just need to get outside in the sun!

While my Happy Cricket chased butterflies and brought me a never-ending selection of wildflowers, rocks, sticks, and yes, some bugs, I tried following Lori Putnam's method from her video Bold Brushstrokes and Confident Color.  I managed to feel very painterly, even if I didn't get everything quite the way I wanted it.  I've learned my eyes have to adjust to the use of real light - not that artificial stuff that artists with windowless studios use.

I also went too wet with the paint so my bold brushstrokes and values became kind of muddied.  But overall, I'm pleased with the result.  It's kind of hard to be anything but pleased when your studio is on a blanket in the sun, surrounded by lush, green trees and plants, with a chorus of robins and cardinals singing in the background, and a cup of tea only 10 steps away.

My Happy Cricket, singing to a caterpillar she found that "was visiting" us.