The color of autumn

The best time of year to paint outside is undoubtedly autumn. The weather is temperate, the sun is shining, there are no stinging insects, and the sky is of the intensest blue, especially when it is seen against the bright oranges and yellows of the fall maples and birches. The shadows, particularly in the late afternoon of a sunny fall day, are deep purple. The falling leaves on the black path shining like diamonds. This creates dramatic contrast with the sumac bushes hit by late afternoon sunbeams.

I went to upstate New York and Canada to photographing and painting last fall. I found the perfect spot to paint in the Montreal Botanical Garden. The only problem was that the trees were still green at that time, not the fall colors that I wanted. I had only two days in Montreal. So I painted and changed to the colors I liked to be. When visitors passed by viewing my painting, they said the fall came early in my painting. It was a magic that the artist had a power and vision to do that.

In this painting, I did a small color study on the field with oil and worked on the large oil in my studio later when I came back home. The fresh color memories flashed back to me. Fall encourages an excess of color statement. Nothing is too bright, no light to pale, to express its brilliance; no dark is deep enough to do justice to the blackness of the shadow.