text: Watercolors by Joan 2: Garden Tour Sketches
  My plein air group (PALS) is taking part in the Sayville Garden Tour next month. During the tour there will be artists from our group painting in each of the gardens. The garden club prints up a black & white brochure to hand out when people buy the tickets for the tours, and they asked if we could do a few small black & white sketches of each garden to go inside the brochure. So last week 6 of us met and did a quick sketchcrawl through the gardens.
  Two of the gardens are at private condo units in the same complex.
  This was the front garden in one of them.
  This garden had a lot of nooks with statues tucked among the flowers and foliage.
  I thought the pig was cute.
  This garden had a pond area with a fish that I think sprays water when it is up an running.
  Most of the gardens were still being readied for the tour next month, so not all features were ready and with our weather many of the flowers were not in bloom yet.
  This garden also had areas with statues and a water feature that was being prepped by the homeowner that day.
  I did like the cherub on the pedestal.
  There are 8 gardens in all, but I didn't get to sketch each one. It was very strange to be working on a sketch of a garden in black and white. I was itching to get at the color! lol
  Posted by Joan Tavolott at 3:27 PM
  art by Michael Perchard May 24, 2014 at 4:31 PM
  Joan! I love your watercolors for so many reasons! Now I love these black and whites. They are all so very beautiful! Do more! Please!
  Joan Tavolott May 25, 2014 at 5:50 AM
  Thanks Michael! If I do b&w it is usually of figures. This was strange.
  MiataGrrl May 24, 2014 at 10:02 PM
  I have to say I miss the color too, but I do also love the way you've still captured the personality of the gardens. I bet you got your paints out as soon as you finished these!
  Joan Tavolott May 25, 2014 at 5:51 AM
  Thanks. It was funny but at the last garden one of my friends pulled out her paints. She couldn't do another one in B & W. lol
  Laura Moore May 25, 2014 at 1:09 AM
  I really like these Joan. Your lively skill with pen, shape and form has brought these gardens alive for me. The abundance of marks especially on the foliage is telling me how full and lush these gardens were. Little piglet is a special one. Lovely. Thanks for sharing.
  Joan Tavolott May 25, 2014 at 5:52 AM
  Thanks, Laura. It will be fun to go back and do a few in color. I'll paint in two different gardens that day.
  CrimsonLeaves May 25, 2014 at 3:26 AM
  Joan, every last one is absolutely wonderful! I'm using that word a lot today, it seems. I agree with Laura about your skill with ink, shape, and form!
  Sherry, thanks so much. It was just odd to do a garden of all things without color!
  Joan Sicignano Artist May 25, 2014 at 3:54 PM
  Great sketches Joan, enjoy the plein air. I did it one year and it was fun. Hope to see you soon.
  hmuxo May 25, 2014 at 8:29 PM
  Excellent sketches, Joan! I really love the black and white!
  Michelle Himes May 27, 2014 at 4:28 AM
  The b & w sketches are great! I'm sure it would seem strange to be sketching gardens without color, but concentrating on the garden statues was a perfect solution. Love the pig!