The Promise

I was driving down route 41 when I saw what looked like a painting to me   A tree that stood beckoning to anyone who would see the promise that it held. 

 I started by sketching the lonely trees in warm and cool grays. I then strengthened the composition by building up some of the shapes and deepening up those shadows.

A cool blue was added to separate the foreground from the distant trees. Soft purples were added to the distant trees to further separate them from the strong foreground. 

 

I developed the sky in various shades of blue surrounding the center of interest, the tree. The focal point is full of small twigs and last year’s dead grasses. I applied a collection of dark values in various shades of warm and cold to give the illusion of complex density in the forest. 

I started to define the trees in the foreground to bring them forward in the painting and applied a variety of pastel colors in the grassy foreground.

Ultimately, I love to see two strong values react to each other and against each other and I used that juxtaposition to help denote the passage of time and capture the true beauty of the subject. Go create something beautiful today.