Garden Still Life, oil on canvas, 20×30

This close-up garden landscape feels more like a still life in that everything seems perfectly lit and expertly arranged. The view felt subtle and peaceful, like a reward for being out at first light on a summer morning.

With its range of colors from all the different light angles and cast shadows, this painting was a color mixing challenge. The blue sky reflected on some leaves, cast shadows on others, and golden tones on those in the direct light. I used color temperatures to detail and separate the shapes to differentiate the various flowers, grass or leaves.