Cathy's Garden

"Cathy in Her Garden" - oil on masonite. The only scenario my wife would let me paint her in was in her garden, so here it is. Although it mimics what a portion of the garden looks like, this entire scene was drawn and painted based on memory. But I did use photos of isolated plants to understand the basic structures and colorations but then made up the arrangements. I made sketches for weeks trying to come up with a pose for my wife (she's an absolute wooden stick when it comes to posing so I was just making them up). The only one I really liked because of the natural gracefulness of the pose had her standing and it would have changed the composition of the scene which I had originally done in a rough sketch. In the end I chose this one just to get on with the painting but I think it lacks the grace I wanted - too stable and unmoving. I recently touched up this picture to lighten a few areas and so this is an updated photo.  

Here in the painting you see Cathy surrounded by her animals - Squirtle the Italian Greyhound, Proxy the Cat (foreground) and Smidgen the Cat (background - doing what she did best, posing in the garden). I still plan on doing another painting in the garden someday with Cathy standing.