Lindy Whitton Studio

I’m an artist who loves colour so on a foggy day I chose to do a ‘throw back to autumn’ postcard!

There’s a beautiful stand of deciduous trees right near where the River Geese Gang hang out and I spent a good few weeks watching them change from the bright greens of summer to the deep magentas, reds, and oranges of autumn so I had plenty of memories and mental notes to draw on.

I started with a flurry of clouds and the silver river then dab dab with the flat brush and the trees were in. Next I added a pile of fallen leaves.

The grass is just suggested but I made sure to use some cooler blue greens in the shadows on the grass and the tree in the background to contrast with the warm colours of the main trees. The sunlit areas of the grass get the same warm and cool treatment to help move the eye around the picture.

Then leave it alone!

It’s loose and uncomplicated by detail but it gave me a cheerful hit of colour on a drab day.

Look at how simply these trees were painted.

Calligraphic strokes of the brush.

Layers of warm and cool, light and dark.

A few dashes to suggest branches

Use the biggest brush you can for the size of your painting surface, load it with paint and dab away!

I like to use a flat because it stops me trying to make pretty leaf shapes …if I use a round or a filbert I tend to start getting fiddly and paint individual leaves.