Seeing the Forest for the Trees

The weather was so incredible the last few days, there was no way I could let the weekend go without painting in it. The light, the temperature, everything was fantastic. And it is the last few days of the Fall colors. So I took Illy out to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. At first I was going paint from a similar spot as the work I did during the Paint Out back in August. I was going to paint a fall scene to contrast with the same design with summer greens. But then behind me I saw a view that I've had on my list for a long time - a dense forest with lots of illuminated colors. So I turned my paint box around and painted this hill with the light coming through the trees. Illy was on her best behavior, and I was assuming it was because she was as anxious to see how it turned out as I was. This is the third densely wooded forest piece I've done (the other two being in swamps), and I've learned a lot each time. One important part of landscape painting is to simplify, which is a tough task on such a complex subject. 

"Fall Forest"

10x8 oil on lead primed canvas

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