A quick sketch after work

The weather was glorious today; warm and sunny but with a bit of a breeze so it wasn't too hot (although it's still much warmer than I would expect for April). As such I knocked off work early so that I could sit around in my client's garden for half an hour and try and sketch some more flowers. Tulip 'Raspberry Ripple' (good name, eh?), bluebells, and a random cornus leaf.

Oh garden of mine...

I haven't sat down in my own garden for MONTHS. Literally. That's the trouble with being a gardener, you spend all your time in gardens for other people, and when you get home you're too tired to spend time in your own.

This evening I was no less tired than usual, but the weather was beautiful and I suddenly felt the desperate need to just go and sit outside. So I did.

I ended up with a pretty random composition consisting of apple blossom, a hosta, and a tulip (because I thought the page needed some colour). They've come out pretty well I think. The blossom and hosta were sketched with pencil, then ink, then the colour added. The tulip was a brave (!) attempt at painting straight away, then inking in some definition afterwards. I say 'brave'... but really I was just too lazy to walk to the other end of the garden to fetch my pencil...