I started sketching this painting on June 30/20. The reference photo was taken two weeks earlier. The plants are from our perennial garden. I'd never paid attention to orange poppy's seed pods. They have such a stunning shape and blue/green colour. And, the allium would provide a good challenge to figure out. The bleeding heart also seems to be a good image of 2020-21. I never dreamed it would take 8 months to finish. Covid-19 life got in the way. I wanted a title that would reflect the hope I have for the future of our planet. Seeds are always hopeful, aren't they?
And, to try something new today, here's a quick chalk-pastel sketch of a local musician, Saskia Tompkins. We attended a social-distanced field concert last summer where she entertained the crowd as the sun was starting to set. This is the smallest painting I've done in years... only about 8" square. Proof that I really do need more time and a larger sheet of paper to get a good likeness. I used a black and white image as reference and didn't worry about colour, only tone.
