Cool, Clear, Water

YEAH! Finally - time to work (AND I got some housework done, too). I just went ahead with the things I knew I wanted in the picture - the edge of the pool and the bag with the towel. I don't know if I'm done - I feel like I should still add something, but nothing works. Because of that, drawing was a little more frustrating than joyous today. I'm just stuck.

Part of the problem is that I started with no background in mind and placed the figure directly in the center. Had I put her off to one side, some of the other things might have worked a little better (like a chair or a gate in the background). The things that I tried only looked crowded and competed with the figure.

I think I did alright with the edge of the pool. I really went into this with no clue on how to render water. I browsed a few garden magazines at work that had pools in them. The details that stood out were the change in value that happened above and below the water line and the shadows and/or reflections. I tried to capture the essence of that with the pool tiles. I changed value at the water-line and made the tiles more fuzzy-edged below. I also included a reflection of the pool's overhang, since I noticed that in pictures as well.

One of the goals for this drawing was to stick to lighter values overall and to have more of a directed light source. Again, I'm not sure how successful I was - if I pushed the contrast enough to suggest a bright light.

I just had an idea - maybe a simple pair of discarded flip-flops on the left might be the final touch. What do y'all think?

Anyway, it was a very hot day here today and my studio is not climate controlled (the garage). Perhaps this was a bit tedious because I wished I was about to jump in a pool. I guess that's why this song popped into mind.