Plein Air Painting at Smith- Gilbert Gardens

 Thursday and Friday of this week I participated in a plein air painting event at the Smith Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw , GA. It was my first time there. There were about 40 other artists painting at the same time and at the end of the 2 days we were each asked to frame and submit 2 paintings for a show at the garden. The garden is the best kept secret in Georgia. Apparently it was a private home and garden and has been  recently made into a public garden( for a small admission of $7). There are 16 acres of gardens, about 30 statues and lots and lots of flowers- Amazing roses and irises were available this week.

Today I tried to tackle roses in the garden, keeping my eye on simplifying the scene, capturing just the essence and feel of it rather than worrying about being exact. Rather than approach it as a landscape,  treated it as I would a still life- only with outdoor light. I picked out a couple of roses as my main focus and then  added other flowers from here and there as needed for the composition.

 Here is the unfolding of the painting- start to finish today...

Initial block in of the flowers and a few specific leaves- only transparent paints

 

Block in of background added in

Opaque paint added, brushstrokes to add form

 Final painting still on the easel

Framed for tonight's show

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