This was one of those paintings I thought I could do in a relatively short time.  Well, you can see it has been awhile since I posted, so quick was not meant to be.  It was great fun to do, but what was I thinking with all those circles?!  It was a first for using a black primed canvas (which I loved!) and for doing a "recent" figurative piece of my kids.  I am usually motivated by drawing my kids when they were young, but when I saw this little girl next to my teenage daughter, I realized that I draw them young because I still think of them as young.  I have a hard time believing my daughter is a teenager (although I do have the gray hair to prove it).  I learned alot with this piece (try black primed canvas more but NO more circles!!) and that is very important to me as I want to improve with composition and painting skills each time.

This was completed in one day (Yeah me!!).  From a picture I took while on vacation for my wedding anniversary a few years ago.  Had a wonderful trip even with the cloud cover.

I got to spend an enjoyable Saturday at the Zoo participating in a Plein Air Painting Day.  15 artists were selected to participate in this fundraiser . The artwork was completed on location at the zoo and then donated for an auction.  Proceeds from the auction go to the Zoo's Educational Programs.  Great opportunity for my FIRST attempt at Plein Air painting.  Such a challenge to paint animals that DO NOT stand still!!  I was able to meet lots of kids and answer lots of questions - hope it inspired some new artists... I chose to paint elephants since I have done them before, but not with watercolor.  I did add detail with colored pencil for a mixed media approach.  Still need help with compositional aspects, but I learned alot while doing it.