Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Last of Autumn's Colour

A few of us decided to catch the last of the autumn colour last Sunday in beautiful Kennedy Park (US followers of this blog may be interested to know that the park is adjacent to the ancestral home of John F Kennedy, hence the name dedication).  A lot of the leaves were already gone, but some varieties, especially the numerous maple trees, were still extraordinarily colourful.

For my first painting, I was really attracted to the strong, almost abstract shadow patterns created by the low sun and the almost bare trees.

Late Autumn Shadows, Kennedy Park
(14" x 11" Oil on Board)

























I could no longer resist the obvious for my second painting and painted these maple trees in all their autumnal glory. There are several varieties here, with autumn colours ranging from green-yellow to orange and the deepest reds.

Autumn Maples, Kennedy Park
(11" x 14" Oil on Board)




Good weather, good company and a great location. Plein air doesn't get much better!


4 comments:

Prerana Kulkarni said...

Both paintings are beautiful. I liked the first one better - looks stunning with bright yellow leaves and long shadow makes it interesting.

Unknown said...

And plein air painting doesn't get much better. You have captured in almost text book fashion all of the elements of great painting but stamped them with your own personality. Great work.

Michael McGuire said...

Thanks Prerana. I think I prefer the first one too. It was a kind of "I must paint this" scene as soon as I saw it, while the second was more "now what will I paint next".

Michael McGuire said...

Thanks Mick. One of those days when I realised that one of the joys of plein air painting is the opportunity it presents to paint with friends.