Day 116: It’s Hot in the Shade

Day 116: It’s Hot in the Shade

Now I can’t keep cool, even the shade is getting hot here in Florence. That’s why we got up early and didn’t go far to paint, just the garden here at the house where we are staying.Hot Morning Sun in the Garden, Florence6×8″Oil on PanelOur host thought we were amusing. After a week of driving up, down and all around the countryside, we just stayed put this morning and found ourselves a little corner of shade to paint.I’ve unsuccessfully attempted to paint this garden before- why it has been unsuccessful is that I find there is so much happening- leaves of infinite shades of green going this way and that. To find order in the chaos of leaves and portray it well is a challenge for me.I waited for the sun to first come into the garden and hit this little bench here before starting to paint so that I would have more contrast between light and shadow to work with. This did make it easier to seperate some of the trees and other greens into light and shadow.I think that this is something I need to work on more and more, greens (!) and keeping them simple and keep attempting to find order in the chaos.You can see today’s painting or buy it here on my website.