Progress Across the Board

Today we were able to take a break from running around trying to find whatevers for the new room (which I have now decided to refer to as the Garden Room for reasons I'll explain later).   So the first thing I did was go to painting class to work on the Venice painting.  It's a good thing I have class once a week or nothing would be done on this one due to everything else going on.

The first and most obvious thing I did was add the mooring posts in front of the pinkish building on the left.  I may have to tone that red down a bit given the type of day it was, but the red stands out quite strongly even in the photo.  And yes, the one on the left isn't straight, and I probably should have either made it lean more or have painted both as straight as soldiers standing guard.  But I didn't.  The windows in that building were also started - green shutters on the top floor and shadowed openings on the next floor down as well as the shadowed doorway between the mooring posts.  As I work on this building again and add more detail, I will make sure the perspective is correct.

While this was drying, I filled in most of the rest of the sky and added a bit of details to the background buildings.  That included drawing the paint down almost to the bridge where they will be seen through the railing on the bridge.  Those railings will be done with pen and ink; this is one place where I think the detail should be crisp.

When I got home, D and I went to the school to cast our votes on the budget, went on to the bank and grocery store.  Home again I started a laundry and then had time to go out to check progress.  The awning windows (seen below) were in. Through them we have a lovely view of the treetops.

Two of the three sections of the glass doors had been set in place.  They aren't fully secured yet as they were checking that every part worked before nailing everything down.

That unit looks right out on the garden in the backyard and has a clearer, more direct view that from the family room.  Hence my new name for the room.  My reasoning is that it will be used as a guest suite only on occasion and as a master suite - well, maybe not at all.  But we will spend quite a bit of time enjoying the view of the garden in all seasons.

And here is an example of what we will be able to see:

This slate-roofed with the lilacs behind it is the home for a family of wrens this year.  You can just see him on a perch by the second floor window.