August walks

I have been taking lots of photos of trees and foliage during my dog walks. I am really attracted to trees and all the flowers and grasses growing beneath them.
I love all the business and particularly the light against dark areas. I think if you are going to paint a very busy scene then you must paint these contrasting tonal areas , not only to add interest but to add some depth to the painting otherwise it can look ‘samey’ and flat. Also there was not a lot of colour in my photos …apart from green and a little pink from the thistles and knapweed which is another reason why tone is so important.

Anyway these thoughts were on my mind when painting these. Some areas of each painting I like better than others……as you do. I used prussian blue in most of the greens mixed with varying amounts of yellows, burnt sienna and cadmium orange. The green are more muted than in the photos. I used masking for the flowers and thin light stems and grasses. They were painted very quickly using a sponge work and more detailed work with a round brush and rigger. I had some wriggle room so decided on the composition of each towards the end of the painting and did some cropping.