The weather has begun to turn sufficiently so that a few more sketchers turned out for the Saturday sketch group's weekly safari.
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March 19, 2022, watercolor, 7x10
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Here in Des Moines the trees are bare, most grasses yellow to brown and dry. Here and there, along watercourses, networks of spindly honeysuckle are tipping toward green. And where the slope faces southwest, grasses are greening. Like the just-ending colder months, early spring features subtlety in colors. Most of the group painted in Greenwood Park, which is just south of the Art Center and features woods, water, an amphitheater, and other amenities. Besides, it was in the lee of the woods and sunny. You can get trapped into detail, so I consciously scrubbed out big shapes of colors, each slightly different, then added figures and ink details. I worked quickly because it was a little cold.
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Sketch, 3-19-22, 14x5
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After packing up to leave it seemed a shame to go away before taking one more look. I sat down on a bench and sketched a tall, bare tree that loomed overhead. Mostly this was a pencil drawing that I finished and accented with ink and watercolor.
Because of the height of the tree and the smaller size of the sketchbook I chose, it was necessary to lap from one page onto another. The red color of the woods in the background is invented--the color was more a warm grey. Trees are wonderful sketch material. I return to them again and again.
After finishing, we met at a local cafe, where I rewarded myself with a Philly cheesesteak.
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