Family Fun

"Faster, Daddy"

15" x 14" watercolor

Gilroy Gardens Family Park

The day our Paintsites group created art at Gilroy Gardens, I did a landscape, begun before the park opened. An hour later the families began to arrive for their Saturday outing. Just below the deck where we were painting were the paddle boats, lovely large swans and ducks with two people on board, usually one parent and one child. I grabbed my I-Pad and took a couple photos. I loved this particular scene with the wake linking the two boats.

I began the painting last Thursday night with my South Side Art Club, laying in the washes over the entire page. I saved the white of the bubbly wake using friskit. There was a row of green and white umbrellas on the hill over the pond. I wanted to suggest the background without drawing attention away from the subject, so I toned down the whites of the umbrella, leaving the pure white for the boats and wake. I also suggested foliage and flowers, without defining them too much.

You can read about our group adventure on the Santa Clara Valley Paintsites Blog.