Bathed in Gold

Fall is a short magical time of the year.  In this piece, sunlight shone from the back of the trees, which gave an intense glow and a full range of values from light to dark.

The first sketch looked like sailing ships bouncing on the water instead of trees on the side of a cliff.   

 

The next is a layering process from the hot intense centers of interest blending out to the subtle middle values.  Then I added some of the cool blues and purples to accent the warm gold. 

In the third part of the building process, I darkened the strong intense accents, and added reds next to the greens to draw the viewer forward toward the center of interest.  I also added some details in the light middle and dark areas.