Water Lily Lake 2

Artist's Gallery

Finishing the Painting

All too soon, it was time to leave the paint-out. I was far from being finished, and so quickly snapped some pictures of the scene before going home. I continued to work on it for the next few days. That's often how painting outdoors is--you put in the basic sketch and mood of the painting and then finish it at home. Although, the fastest painters can actually complete a painting (or even several!) on the spot. I am not one of those.

Anyway, my painting seemed rather dull, so I decided to add some burgundy red flowers all around the lake. I modeled them after some very dark flowers I actually saw there, but placed them where I wanted to give the photo depth. Layers of white paint gave the lily pads and flowers a fluorescent brilliance to contrast with the sky-blue lake and spring-green trees. I had a lot of fun on the windmill.