Easing in to the Easel

Easing in to work on my easel, I think I posted this work in progress about a month ago, being away for at least three weeks means that I'm easing myself back in to my work. This autumnal panorama was my last man standing of 2020. I've often mentioned that I try never to leave my easel empty, a work in progress is like a promise to return and I'm always a bit scared that during a break I might lose my ''skills'', so if I can see where I was I can find my way in more easily. 

Helpful as it is I sometimes then find that in the meantime a) the season has changed or b) I've found another motif that I'd prefer to paint. Tough luck but I force myself to push on. 

Unusually, here I'm trying to stick to the natural palette of Autumn and am still embracing those greens! If 2020 brought anything positive for me it was overcoming my fear of greens, and that really is a big deal. I've spent the last twelve years avoiding them like the plague.  

As you can see from the closeup, I'm trying to piece my sky, branches and leaves together a little like stained glass. In the past I would have thwacked on the sky and started to build my trees up on top; this technique though quicker, was frustrating because you lose the fineness of line and intensity of colour. Especially with bare trees I want to achieve fluid and delicate branches, hence gap-filling! Time consuming yes but satisfying. 

Although I do have some new wintery inspiration, to be honest what with all the bad news around us a little autumny colour is cheery and the springy greens are a promise of better times ahead.