Symphony of Blossoms

Watercolor Painting by Dennis Pendleton. This is a painting I did a few years ago at my friend Rod Goebel's hacienda and studio in Taos, New Mexico. When I look at it now I am reminded of the song by Gershwin in the Porgy and Bess Opera. It starts out "Summer time and the livin' is easy." That is exactly what I think of when I look at this watercolor. It was a special time in my life when I could visit my friend in Taos and paint in his magnificent garden. Rod planned his garden for painting so that there were different explosions of color appearing all summer, often against the backdrop of one of the adobe walls that ran through his garden.

I was struck by the stunning yellow lilies surrounded by the blue and violet flowers so I started my preliminary drawing there on a full sheet of watercolor paper 22 by 30 inches. I placed them slightly off center with the deep blue delphiniums behind them. For composition, I wanted the adobe wall to be a more restful area with all the detailed flowers. I also thought it was important to include the tressel covered with flowers dropping in from the upper left corner so that the adobe wall did not run all the way across the background.

Putting this much detail in a painting is fun and scary at the same time. I thought carefully about how each flower came up against the adobe wall and how to capture light and shadow. I deepened the values of the blue and violet flowers as they came up against the yellow lilies and then placed the deep green leaves and stems on top. It still looks like Rod's garden but it is the artist's responsibility to take what nature presents and turn it into a painting. Notice how all the flowers in the foreground are less important because I painted mostly middle and slightly dark values without any big value changes. Contrast this with the big value jump were the yellow lilies are surrounded with deep values. This is also done with color as the light yellow flowers are surrounded by the rich deep blue and violet colors.

The lilies were painted with lemon yellow, cadmium yellow and cobalt violet was added for the darker petals. The adobe wall is a mixture of cobalt violet and yellow ochre and the different greens weere created with olive, ultramarine blue and lemon yellow. Cerulean blue, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, and mineral violet were used for the blue flowers and you can also see flowers painted with rose dore and cobalt violet.

Rod's garden was my muse for several years and I consider myself lucky to have had him for a friend. When you find a muse go for it with enthusiasm because you never know what changes lie ahead. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton