Japanese Garden Fun

Last Wednesday Tina and I went to the UW Arboretum's Japanese Garden to do some sketching.  I spent the first half hour or more not sketching, because I was too distracted by the landscapes and the animal life.

Plenty of choices for drawing -- maybe too many choices, as it took me a long time to decide on a view.

These lily pads were especially attractive, not the usual plain white ones.

This turtle seemed to be doing a stretching workout.

They sell fish food for the koi, which makes for some easy close-up photos.

A Great Blue Heron flew in and found an elegant perch.

Then it flew over to the shore and went fishing.

Down the hatch!

My first artistic effort was not entirely successful, as I tried combining watercolor with colored pencils.  I should have lightened up the background more and used a smoother paper.

Next, I tried a simple rendering of a lantern using a water-soluble gray pen.  A bit better.

And for the last piece, I returned to my usual technique of pen with watercolor that seems to work best for me.

Yesterday I bought some gouache paint -- it's an opaque watercolor paint that I've used only a few times before.  I'm hoping to test it out in the field soon.