Walking around my neighborhood, I saw a sidewalk garden with a grassy plant spilling off of the hillside onto the sidewalk. That plant’s swoop was so graceful, I had to paint it. I took a photo, came home, and made a few attempts until I was OK with it.

Sheltering in place has been about learning to use my photos as references. I know my downfall is trying to copy what I see in the photo, as though the photo is the authority and my job is to attempt to match it, pixel for pixel. I have been placing the photo far enough away from me that I can’t make out the detail, and this seems to help.

This is a small 9 x 9-inch gouache sketch on black Bristol paper.