Sunset Trees

I suppose they could be Sunrise Trees, if you prefer that time of day!

Another of the subjects that I draw regularly are trees, specifically in front of sunset. Here are a few paintings in that vein from a bit of colorful playtime.

The first two combine a few recurring subjects – the borders (specifically the corners), the trees in front of the sun, and that specific way of drawing a sun with the lined “rays” radiating out from them. Of course, I normally do all of these things in a drawing – so this is the colored version of that concept. Additionally, the rounded branches was a new style that I was playing with.

In the above I was playing with texture, using angular hatched lines to fill in the background. And while both of these are acrylic paintings, below I was experimenting with the medium, pursuing a looser, more watercolor-like feel. Along with that looseness I also varied the borders – not sure which I like more, but the varying widths certainly give drastically different feelings to the paintings!Finally, this unique tree was painted at the same time as the orange-skied cityscape and was yet another experiment. I find the delicate, bare branches of trees beautiful and fascinating as they are silhouetted by the sky – and that’s generally how I portray them. Adding leaves is relatively rare, and these stylized, swirls of foliage was an experiment in color and style.

Each of these is painted on 8×10″ cold-rolled watercolor paper with acrylic paints.

Cityscapes

There are a few subjects or themes that I find myself returning to over and over. When I’m bored and supposed to be listening I doodle box stacks or swirls. Nothing coming to mind? I’ll make sunset-silhouetted trees. Have a bit of color or a blank paper coffee cup? Cityscapes it is!

I’ve thought about spending a bit of focus drawing real cityscapes that I’ve encountered. Until then, however, here are a few playful paintings, done where I was primarily just having fun with my paint supplies. I do love the contrasting colors and different size/shapes of the buildings and windows!

These two blue-skies were painted simultaneously, side-by-side. So they could function as a diptych (a two-part painting) or equally well as individual works.

Each of these is painted on 8×10″ cold-rolled watercolor paper with acrylic paints.

Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, But not Simpler

9×6″ Ink & Watercolor on sketch paper

After posting the weather report on my FaceBook page I received a comment about how simple the forecast was. Which made me think about this Einstein quote.

(You can see that the hair and ‘stache from the sketch didn’t make it into this drawing.)

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. ~ Albert Einstein