Beech tree

I only had one more painting I wanted to do from a photograph. I took it while out walking near Dolobran, near Meifod, in mid-Wales. I looked across the valley and this beech tree stood out, asking me to paint it. So I have!

It's the first time I've used a circular canvas and had to place small wooden pegs to stop it rolling. I wasn't too worried about how it turned out. I wanted to paint, had missed painting.The colours on the photo were slate blue and green. I wanted to lighten them to contrast with the beech tree. I tried to be faithful to the image. If only I could paint the detail of the trees better. It gave me the idea of drawing trees to feed into painting.

That said, it is amazing what the mind's eye will do for you. At some point, I stopped painting manually and began to flow using an inner eye and feel. That explains the colours in the beech tree and the yellow clouds and blue trees. I like this, am very fond of it, in fact. It has found a place on my living room wall. I find it cheering.

It doesn't really matter what other people think, though friends have been kind, as usual. I'm not going to share everything I do. Nor am I going to paint weekly. But, I hope it will be regularly. I need to get out there, seeing, with my camera. Fortunately, it is autumn now and the colours are spectacular.