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I've been under the weather with Covid for most of the week, along with my sweetheart, so haven't felt well enough to do much painting or sketching. The last time I painted, though, was lovely.
When my 1000 to noon (virtual) volunteer-project meeting was canceled at the last minute Monday morning, I'd normally have headed out on my bicycle - with a stop for some plein-air painting along my route.
But with my bike in the shop for an overhaul, I instead rather gleefully used this unexpected gift of free time to do some plein-air painting in our home gardens.
The Echinacea purpurea and Rudbeckia hirta (purple coneflowers and black-eyed Susans), each indigenous or local wildflowers grown from heirloom seeds, are in full bloom these days. And, as you can see, we have masses of each of these plants.

I opted to focus on the Echinacea, as the shapes of their petals vary interestingly from one flower to the next. But rather than doing one larger painting, as usual, I sketched blooms onto three 7" x 5" pieces of cotton paper. The idea was to start one study, then work on another while it was drying, and alternate between the studies in this way.
I needn't have bothered; it was so hot, l without Montréal's usual humidity, that the pigments dried far too quickly.
None of these three studies is quite finished yet, so once I'm feeling better I'll set my easel back up outside to finish them.