When I was hiking with a friend in the large, beautiful, hilly cemetery near my house, we discovered a small pond full of lily pads and flowers. That afternoon I drove back up to the cemetery with my sketchbook and paints and set up my chair beside the pond. It was such a peaceful spot; quiet, serene and green.
I took a break to figure out the shape of lily pads and flowers, filling up a page of lily shapes, first with my regular pen and then the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, until I understood the lilies.
The water was really confusing because of all the reflections of the sky, trees and shrubbery, and the quickly encroaching shadows since it was nearing sunset.
When the pond was completely in shadow, I turned my chair around to face the other direction and do a quick sketch of a meadow glowing in the sunset, surrounded by shadows.
Jana Bouc, Artist 
7 replies on “Sketching Lily Ponds at Sunset View Cemetery, Part I”
What a nice find in your area, a pond and lily pads! Nice sketches! I am glad you reminded me about taking time to understand a subject before trying to paint it—always a good idea!
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Love your water lily sketches. Have you been to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden? I believe there is a fabulous lily pond there.
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Thank you for the brilliant suggestion! I looked at images from their website and it looks fabulous. I think Blake Gardens has one too. Can’t wait to go check them out! Jana
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Your sketches are wonderful. Special reminders of a special day…I particularly like the way you captured the shodows at the top edge of the pond in the first painting.
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Such a peaceful time, Jana. I love the lily pads and flowers. Thanks, as always, for taking us along.
annie
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Nice paintings. I love the tree composition.
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I know what you mean about the peaceful motif — it’s the kind of thing that makes drawing wonderful — days like that ….
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