The beauty of Monet’s gardens at Giverny resulted
from careful planning and a lot of work, both
originally and to restore them in modern times

For my Zoom watercolor classes in April we are painting Monet’s gardens, focusing on water, trees and flowers. We work from a photo, a value sketch, and a color palette before we start painting.

Pictured: My traveling companions and I were at the gardens at Giverny in an October, just when the trees were turning. The still water reflections were stunning amongst the water lilies. Everything in the gardens was planned, from the times that different plants and trees would be in bloom, to the reflections in the water.

• Monet’s gardens (blog post)