Two Attempts to get it right-Sauvie Island Garden in the light #SauvieIsland #Watercolor #PleinAir

There was a lovely garden at the farm I visited on Sauvie Island a couple of weeks for a plein air session with Kathy Delumpa Allegri and some of her other students .

In the photo I took, I liked the difference between the shaded area and the sunlit area behind.  I did two paintings.  Still didn't quite get what I was looking for, but I'm not unhappy with the results.

My first attempt was pretty straight-forward.  I was playing with complementary colors of yellow/violet, and orange/blue but wasn't really happy with my choices. 

In this attempt, I was playing with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (yes, the one you use to clean the kitchen!), using it to lift paint.  I wanted to really hone in on the haze that was created by the heat, and in essence removed a good portion of the paint I'd put down.

The Magic Eraser does a decent job of lifting paint (once it's dry), but I find it hard to control how much paint I'm removing and getting the shape I wanted in the removed area.  I hadn't intended to remove so much.

 I may do a third attempt and try combining what I learned from both of these. I'll probably choose a different angle though.