Botanic Gardens

We didn't get to the Botanic Gardens with Dublin Sketchers this summer - a shame really given that this was our best summer ever. Although it would have been impossible to find parking nearby, so maybe it's just as well. We're hoping to go soon again and that will be really interesting. I love the trees in the winter. I was able to sketch there a while back and I had trouble deciding what to sketch, as all the different tree shapes were vying for my attention!

I started with a twisted tree - didn't even check what it was called - as part of a shape exercise for Sketching Now Foundations. I went straight to watercolours (after figuring out the main connections with a watercolour pencil). By the time I was adding the last touches, my fingers were frozen.

So I moved into the sun and used my Firmo Diário Gráfico sketchbook for a quick ink-only sketch while standing in the sun. I felt a bit like a bird spreading its wings in the sun.