Dew drops in morning light

copyright 2009, Helen Read

Dill Weed, 6x6" acrylic on canvas  

This one has been in my mind for awhile - and it required some thinking before I put my thoughts to canvas. First, I took the reference photo in my garden this summer. A tall stand of dill that had been bathed in dew in the morning. The light was beautiful as every little floret had a large drop of dew which reflected the sunlight. How to put this to paint??? Well, obviously, my rendition doesn't do God's handiwork justice, but it does qualify as a celebration of that small morning gift! This is a great example of how God romances us with his gifts in creation! But, I digress. I decided to use a more experimental approach. I used some interference paint (gold to red) in the background, mixed with a light yellow. That gave a very reflective background on which to put the image. Then, I worked with the image. Putting down the essence of what I saw in my garden - trying to capture the sense of water droplets without becoming formulaic and tedious. In actuality, it does have a very reflective quality about it, which isn't so obvious in my photo.