Trees of yellow

Growing in colour

I took a canvas outside to paint today, setting up my paints in front of a small tree with the birds providing a soundtrack for my morning's painting session.

A couple of days ago I shared with you a colourful painting from my post Woods of Colour, a scene from the Bois d'Amour. The colour and style is inspired by the teachings of Paul Gauguin and the work of Paul Séruzier, specifically 'The Talisman' painted in 1888.

In my previous post I suggested using the watercolour painting from Woods of Colour as the inspiration for an acrylic painting. You can see I have placed the watercolour painting under my blank canvas to use as a reference point.

Painting from my post Woods of Colour, a scene from the Bois d'Amour.

I started by lightly placing the lines of the trees using yellow paint. I then built up layers of yellow and greens to suggest the light shining through the leaves of a wooded canopy. I used a dark blue-green to suggest the shadows on the trees.

I took the idea of the red forest floor directly from my Woods of Colour painting, suggesting the vibrant red of rusted leaves and earth.

I applied thicker yellow and white paint to the canvas as highlights. The white against the green tree canopy is to suggest the glimpses of light showing through the moving leaves.

I'm not sure if this painting is complete yet. I reached the end of the painting conversation I was having with the canvas today, we had nothing left to say to each other, but I may pick up the conversation again on another day. Currently it is propped up on my Grundig Stereogram catching my eye every now and again, suggesting new lines and colours to be explored.

Have a great day!