Tumbledown, Fall

Tumbledown Mountain, Weld Maine

Fall is unquestioningly my favorite time of year.  This is an on location watercolor sketch completed years ago.  This was completed in one setting.  At the time I was very interested in capturing the brilliant fall colors, in particular the color showing through the trees between me and the mountain.   

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, sometimes when painting on location I find it easy to get lost in the subject in front of me.  Particularly in earlier years.  I would, and perhaps I will, rearrange the elements in this painting differently to strengthen the composition while maintaining the integrity or the sense of the place.

If you’ve never tried painting on location, please do.  It is challenging and such a joy.  I was incredibly fortunate to be introduced to drawing and painting outdoors when I was introduced to art. I’ve never known anything else. 

One of the gifts of painting on location, and there are many, is the strength of the memory of the location.  Rarely do we spend hours observing and interpreting the world around us.  It’s been more than a decade since I painted this picture.  I can remember the temperature, the sound of the wind through the tall grass, the warm feel of the sun on my face and the chill of the fall air that the wind carried even into this sheltered location.  There are also things that you may observe in nature that aren’t readily captured by photographs.  It may even be something you see on the way to the location that you decide to add to the finished picture – An interesting tree, old barn, or a tree that stubbornly refuses to lose its leaves when all around have long since surrendered to the coming of winter.

Speaking of winter.  I so enjoyed observing the muted colors during today's Nor Easter and will use the observations to attempt my first painting of a snow storm in action.  More later.