Mystery In The Garden

These bronze statues and there location in Denver Botanic Gardens invite mystery and intrigue. Rather than being presented on a pedestal, these figures are integrated into the natural landscape and surrounded by tall grasses and trees. As I designed the composition, the dark pine trees were perfect to set off the light value sculptures and the tall delicate grasses were an interesting foil around the hard metal figures. To create these grasses, I started with a light wash of warm gray, then used a script watercolor brush with varied strokes and was careful to leave white paper to represent the blooming plants. I also used some spattering and overlapped some dark strokes in this area. With the deep green pine trees and the foreground grasses, the composition is almost cut in half but the standing figures prevent this from happening. This sculpture is such a wonderful addition to the gardens and I have really enjoyed their company this summer. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton