Autumn - maple

 

Today is the beginning of Autumn and I have wanted to paint in Autumn colours for more than a week now. 

This is my painting, inspired by a sketch I made almost five years ago using a photo reference that I cannot find again. But the sketch - almost a study - was very detailed so I used my imagination for the colours.

The next challenge was to find what kind of maple tree this was - I did see the tree and made the reference picture in the parc close to my home - so I looked in books and on the internet to find it. It is a field maple tree or Acer campestre.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this watercolour painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. If you are interested in my original artworks, please contact me.

Autumn in the Arboretum

First of all: the reference picture for this watercolour was made (for me) by Yvonne Koningen and I am really happy that she allowed me to use it.

In our country it's Autumn and the Von Gimborn Arboretum (Tree Museum) is beautiful now. I have seen some of the pictures that were made there last week and I envy those that go there often.

Most of the red leaves of this tree - I think a maple tree -  are still on the branches so it looks like there are large red clouds in the reference picture with some leaf ends pointing out. 
I was inspired by the colour of the leaves, almost a fiery red against a grayish background and the dark colour of the branches. 

I have tried to paint these 'red clouds' and to create a point of interest with some more detailed leaves. This was a bit of a struggle, because the colour values of the red 'clouds' and the blue background were very close. The groups of leaves really were almost clouds so I had to do something. The solution was easy, the darkness of the branches was strengthened a bit to create the darkest colour of the painting and to create a sense of movement from the bottom left  to the top corner right.

It has been a long time since I have painted on a half sheet (most of my paintings since summer were on 1/4 sheet or smaller) and maybe that explains a part of my struggle. The fact that I do not show most details of the leaves now - as I have done in almost every painting I made since last summer - was a change as well.
I write this short after I have finished my watercolour painting and I am still not completely happy with it, it's different from what I had in mind. But I am sure tomorrow it will look better, after I have been away from it for a while.

The details about paper and paint used, availability and contact information can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com