LOTUS in Echo Park

I finished this watercolor yesterday of the lotus in Echo Park Lake, near Los Angeles. I never dreamed it would be so difficult for me to capture the way the leaves fold over! This painting is my second attempt. The first was done plein air in a sketch book. This one is much better. I view the first one as the study of the flower, as I got to know it, intimately! By the time I sat down with my "good paper" (Bockingford 140 lb, the most forgiving paper by the way), the results were "blog-worthy"!