Autumn Drive

One of our favorite things to do during the fall is take drives in the country admiring all the fall foliage.

If you are able to time it right you can visit different areas of the state as the leaves reach peak color.

11x14  oil on wood panel

Autumn plein air sketches

I got out to paint this morning even though it was overcast and windy, but the important part is I did get out. I wanted to sneak in a few hours before taking care of todays commitments.

Went to Core Creek Park to search out some color, most of the trees are past its peak, but I wanted to challenge myself to try to find something that expressed the feeling of fall.
A great foil for color is an overcast sky, the sky helps the colors appear more saturated.

I wanted to experiment using a limited palette of Cad. Yellow Lt., Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, and Colbalt Blue. I made a medium grey by mixing the three primaries together and a touch of white so I had something to dull the intensity of the colors for this overcast day.

Both sketches are 5x7's.  They fit perfectly in the lid of my sketch box when painting.

This bottom sketch tells the story of fall coming to an end, a touch of sadness to the season and winter looking over our shoulders.