Abstract Landscape Painting

Here’s a new small painting (9 x 12 ) that I’m working on as I get ready to do a 30 x 30 commission.

It’s a pattern of poppies against greens in light and shadow.

Well it’s finished!

It’s one of those perfect fall days with beautiful colors that stretch forever and dark stormy clouds moving briskly across the sky. One minute its raining and the next, the sun is highlighting the distant trees. You can smell winter in the air but the sun still warms your skin.

I have finished the foreground trees and have nearly finished the row of pines in the back. I’m really happy with the colours - it’s one of those very muted fall days with the heavy gray sky softening leaves that would otherwise be so much brighter.

I’ve finished all the shadowy undergrowth. I loved using the cool greens and purples - normally reserved to show distance - in the foreground and the warmer greens and oranges right up against the grey sky.  I’m such a rebel

I got a lot more of the foreground forest completed. I love the way the purples and greens I’m using look blue against all the oranges. I think if I used actual blue it would look completely out of place.

I really wanted to see what the bottom area of the painting looks like. This is almost ground level and the trunks are in shadow with lots of dark reds, purples and greens.

Here’s where I stopped yesterday. I now have a good feel for how all the trees will relate to each other.

Working along on this one. I really wanted to see the sky so I snuck up and put some in

And there are four pines near the back deep in coversation. I’m not sure all this talking will help, but I can see they feel it’s important to stick together

I love finding little mini stories within my paintings. (This seems to happen mostly with the larger ones.) In this one I have the yellow tree with the leaves moving out from the trunk in a kind of circular motion. It’s just standing there gently spinning like one of those paper windmills I played with as a child.

I’m starting the 24 x 30 I’ve been wanting to paint for ages. (It took longer than I thought it would to get the sketch ready - but it’s a big painting.)

It’s my favourite kind of Autumn day with the dark clouds a gray backdrop to the wonderful yellows, oranges and muted greens of the trees.