Saturday

Spring has felt slow and chilly, but at last we had warm weather and sunny skies last Saturday, when the sketch group went out. As we always do, the group came to a consensus regarding location then set off. This week we went to the Botanical Center, on the east bank of the Des Moines River. Some of us went to the Robert Ray gardens nearby and some stayed outside; a few went into the dome and then checked out the big outside gardens. 

Alas, there wasn't much in flower, though narcissi were clumped here and there. I went to the farthest bench from the dome and spent an hour or two sketching it. I laid in the big shapes with pencil, then watercolor. As the painting progressed I added darks with ink.

"Des Moines Botanical Center, April 2023," ink and wc, 8x10