Watercolors of Autumn in Vermont

I'm going for an October Splurge, taking these next four postings to show some of my autumnal paintings and photos of two gorgeous spots--first Vermont, then Santa Fe and environs.  Unlike summer (all greens) and winter (all whites or greys), autumn around here is easy to paint since it invites you to splash your brush about in your paint-box and come up with outrageous colors.

That was a term I first heard used by Wolf Kahn, a New York City/Vermont artist (and colorist) who can paint a barn turquoise green, a sky pink, and tree trunks lavender.  (When giving a talk at our local museum, he came in emerald green trousers and a yellow T-shirt.)  Describing seasonal landscapes, he once said that it was in autumn that "nature gives you permission to use outrageous colors" ... though he added that one can use this same bright palette anytime.  "Intense colors are always available," he said, whether that meant choosing magenta, say, to paint shadows or turning a river yellow.  He liked using bright colors because they stretched one's vision and also kept him and his viewers from being bored.  Pretty, he didn't want; unusual, he did.  But he also felt that because his colors were so intense, he needed to keep his subject as simple as possible.  So:  a river, some trees, a sky.  Or:  a barn, a sky.  Or:  a line of trees, a mountain, some sky.

But getting back to enjoying this season's color palette, here are my watercolor renderings of autumn in our part of the world.

The challenge with this first painting was to paint the negative space around the trees rather than the trees themselves.  That took a lot of concentration since I didn't draw the trees in very carefully, not wanting to get too fiddly about it and also knowing that even if I did delineate everything before painting it, I'd probably get confused along the way. In the long run, I did manage to leave the branches and trunks bare, letting the white paper show through.  Later, I added shadow-like purple washes here and there.

West Dummerston Mail Boxes

West Hill Road

The above piece shows a technique I enjoy using sometimes to add interest--using different colors on the right and left sides of the painting. 

I decided to paint this when I saw how beautifully the trees behind me were reflected in the glass doors and windows of my friend's house.

Mt. Wantastiquet in Autumn

I did the above in a highly loose style in order to capture the wet, foggy mood.

Dutton Farm Road in November

Here, I wanted the eye to be drawn to the center of the painting, so I emphasized the dark green tree and center clouds.

Kipling Road Country Walk

This road, which I've often walked, gets its name from Rudyard Kipling who lived here at the end of the 19th century.  As you'll note, I painted the left tree trunks brown and the right blue-grey.

Next week's posting will show photos of autumn in Vermont.