On the easel

My garden is going crazy at this time of year so I paint the blooms! The challenge to this painting is the upper left corner.  The flower effectively creates a line that's hard to ignore so... I'm working on dropping it back into shadow and see if that solves the problem.

  I find it hard to sit and do nothing so in the morning I often sketch.  The goal lately is to refine the pencil strokes so that are not haphazard and describe the way the form turns.

Here's something to think about...

My boy is 19 this month and struggles with finding his way.  He started at University in the fall and was so homesick we brought him home.  The plan is for him to start at community college in the fall then transition later to university.  In the meantime he has been job hunting and has had some rough days.  Just  last week he found a job and his whole demeanor changed.  There is a smile on his face and his step is lighter.  But the best part of all happened yesterday when he came to me with a very satisfied grin and said he was having a creative burst and had written much of the plot for a story.  He wants to be a writer someday...
As an artist I understand how much your daily life affects creativity so the news that he felt inspired was  WONDERFUL to hear!