Autumn walks

The red tree (Arches 28 x 19 cm)

Autumn walk (Arches 28 x 19 cm)

The sunny meadow (Arches 28 x 19 cm)

These three small landscapes are based on photos from a walk in the near by conservation area a couple of weeks ago.

And two days later...

I wanted to paint but had no idea what. The autumn leaves from two days ago were still spread on the desk, but they had dried and curled up...

Maple leaves

Watercolor on Arches 28/38 cm

Yes, real colorful autumn leaves, which make you smile, not the Toronto hockey team with the same name, which can only make you cry...
The prime of the fall colors has passed and many trees have dropped their foliage. Yet, there are still some really beautiful individual trees. Some have all colors, smoothly transitioning, from bright red at the tips of the branches, through yellow and orange, to all green on the bottom branches. I gathered a large bunch of leaves during yesterday's walk, spread them on the desk and started painting. I did get into some serious fiddling, but at a second look today, decided that it's not too bad. So, here's my posting, as Canadian as it can get...

The pile of leaves on my desk

Lavender in October

That's right, lavender! I did pick a whole bunch of it from my yard today. Thanks to the efforts of horticulturalists, now days we can enjoy flowers with a really long and sometimes unusual blooming periods. For example, there is a white iris in my garden, which is about to flower. Yes, now, at the end of October... if the frost doesn't dampen its enthusiasm. ( For those who don't get it, all respectable irises flower only in the spring.) Well, I knew it was a re-blooming type and that's why I planted it, but it still amazed me when I saw its flower buds a week ago. So, here's the prospect - I'll either be painting a white iris in November, or - white snow. Whichever comes first ;-)

Let's play!

I like her playful and questioning expression, but it took quite a number of attempts to reproduce it. I decided to paint this in one color inspired by the magnificent mono-color portraits on David Lobenberg's blog. Of course, I have a long way to go, to get even close to his results. I am too scared to leave hard edges, and while trying to soften them, I manage to create too much mud. As he says, one needs to gain lots of experience...

Selfportrait

...and two interim steps below