The Last of the Garden
The November garden is as stark as the rest of the world. The vibrancy of the August palette has given way to browns and grays. A touch of green and ocher and russet remain. It isn’t much, but I’ll take it. A tangle of once-scarlet runner beans is all there is for a final garden painting.
Drawn In 
I’ll be first. On a day like this, that sure is a pretty sight. I found the beauty a bit limited yesterday, but oh! The green of the mosses. If you look, there is always something. I love this painting.
I am going to have to go looking for mosses, Dawn. Today is rainy and raw here in New York, so I’m glad I went out late yesterday to get the basics of the runner beans in my journal. I miss longer days!
I really like this, something very poignant about it. I always feel that all natural plant life dies so gracefully, it’s a sort of completion., and you have the seeds of promise for next year. Thank you.
Poignant and melancholy, Mair. But there is a grace to the changing season. And, at some point, I’ll paint the pink and black streaked seeds.
Sad but I Love this depiction of entering a new season.
Yes…the pumpkins have melted and it’s colder by the day. I hope to brave the weather and be back sketching on the roadside again soon.
That is just stunning, making it all look soft and interesting . Happy Thanksgiving .
Regards,
Claudia Sent from my iPhone
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Thanks Claudia! Trying to capture the mood and color of the season. best regards!
everything you do is lovely and done with loving hands…. the elegance of the soft gold against that grey/blue is stunning…. only you !…I see so many things on my walks here in San Jose I want to gather and send to you…. you inspired me to draw the seed pods of our magnolia trees… looking closely and then the surprise of the med red seeds..all the paper whites are out !…and the very last of the zinnias and the ‘done ones’ looking like dancing calligraphy…..aint life grand?….thank you for the inspriation.
Hi Sandra- How nice to envision what you are seeing close to home! I’m glad you think of sending me things– that makes me smile– and I’m sure I would love those magnolia pods and your other California finds. I’m happy knowing you will draw them yourself!
So beautifully have you captured form and subtle colors of the changing season. You always find inspiration no matter where you look. How many of us overlook this simple forms of grace and rush right past. Thank you for reminding us to seek and we will find.
How much drawing precedes your watercolor washes?
There’s always inspiration out there, but I wish it was a little warmer for drawing it. The only drawing here is what you see outlined in pen. It was only 37-degrees outside, so I didn’t linger. I started with the base drawing and added complexity with the paint. I used very few colors for this Bernadette– mainly cobalt blue, raw sienna, and burnt sienna for a series of wet washes. There’s a bit of sap green, ultramarine, and burnt umber as well.
Delightful, Jean … those of us who live north with short days now are nostalgic for ‘what was’, but we delight in looking forward to Spring and lengthening days. I just completed a photo essay on the color change of my Smoke Bush to the final leaf drop – took from Oct 7 to Nov 24.
It’s nice to have a focused project like your Smoke Bush to tune in to seasonal changes. I find that I would prefer to find subjects that capture “now” rather than looking back or forward. It’s hard to do with cold, short days! Still, that’s what motivates me most.
What a gentle depiction of the end of the season. Painted with so much love, as always.
Thanks Shari- I almost ditched this one midway into it. I find its easy to get lost during negative painting and sometimes hard to find my way to a finished piece. Glad I kept going!
I love the soft grey/brown palette Jean – lovely work!
I’m glad to see you love drawing and painting spent vegetation, too! We have so many wonderful things in our yard to observe, leave for wildlife, etc. All the neighbors here in the burbs hire in crews to buzz everything down and haul it off. And no my yard isn’t a total shambles, I tidy up bunches of it here and there. But I’m in no rush…there’s always something wonderful growing …and fading that makes an interesting thing to paint. Things are as beautiful when they fade as when they are full and flush!
Wow, these are colors to get lost in. Really beautiful. I bet you could do paintings every month, of something out there. 😉
My aspiration is to do every month “Along the Roadside”. I did pretty well with monthly “in the garden,” but the winter will test my creativity.
Hi there. I found your blog via a comment you made on Shari Blaukopf’s blog. What a treat to find your work. This particular piece made me exclaim “ooooouuuu”. 🙂
Your calligraphy is wonderful. I loved the post about the sketching tea. That’s a great idea for our sketching group here in snowbound Ontario, Canada. Now I just need to find some fancy teacups! Cheers.
Hi Alison— glad to connect! Looks like we are in similar sketching paths. I had just one fancy cup, but then went to a second hand store and found others to add a collection. When I hosted the tea, I asked everyone to bring a cup…it seems like everyone has one tucked in the back of their cupboard. Keep in touch!