Suzanneiam

The March location for the Virtual Paintout with Bill Guffy is St. Petersburg Russia.  I had grand plans of practicing my architecture drawing skills in preparation for my June trip to Europe but instead I found this view from the Kronshtadtskoye Shosse, which is the main freeway, on an island in the Baltic off the coast of St. Petersburg.
I wanted to challenge myself to achieve the deep shadows in the tree cover while still maintaining the white of the fence. I was originally drawn to the view by the birch trees, they are one of my favorites.  I am also challenging myself to continue to use this sketchbook, a 9×12 Fabriano Venezia, which feels gigantic especially when working across the spread (12×18 total page size).
Painting around those tiny fence pieces was a challenge, especially trying to get the color to transition smoothly.
The crazy thing is this could be a view from the street right here in Minnesota, rather than a view from a Google camera half a world away.  Small world.