Colorful Canopy
Wow was it fun to find this colorful canopy on my walk this week! Discovered this on a morning walk with BDE (best dog ever ;-D). Before I continue, I’ll share the purpose and focus of this post and blog.
Small Spaces Special Places
Each year, I select a theme for my weekly paintings. This year’s is “Small Spaces Special Places.” Why? I have been surprised, even delighted, with the small spaces in our house that have captured my eye.
Also, there are the special places I see on my daily dog walks. Each morning, rain or shine, I love getting outdoors and looking for things to paint. Sometimes, we venture on the road and I share paintings of special places from these trips, too.
If you or someone you know will enjoy a weekly dose of color, sign up here for this weekly blog. Let’s get to this week’s topic, shall we?
Beautiful Tree Canopy
Last week, I wrote about finding and painting a redbud near some rocks. This week, I wandered back to the same spot, went underneath the leaves and looked up. The colors were amazing, beautiful, incredible! Now, how to paint and communicate something kind of complicated. Here’s what I decided to do.
Master Copy
I looked for landscape painters that I haven’t seen or heard of before. Score! I found Willem Bastiaan Tholen’s paintings. Holy Smokes, they are gorgeous. On Monday, I copied his version of a red tree. Although I couldn’t find a tree canopy painting per se. And, he painted a beech tree not a red bud. But as I studied his composition and the tree, I learned how wonderfully simple he made each item. The big red tree has a clear form and shadow shape if you look closely. The shrubs underneath the tree are also showing light and shadow.
What I learned while working on the tree canopy is that it’s difficult because there weren’t clear light and shadow shapes. Here’s the result!
So, I will tackle a variation of this painting again. The next time, I will seek out a way to show light and shadow. I think this will help me significantly.
In the meantime, there are several more Tholen paintings I am studying and savoring. Why? He paints the outdoors so beautifully. And, he breaks all kinds of composition rules. So, stay tuned for more on Tholen and composition in future posts.
Signs of Summer
From now on, I will know to look for this redbud tree’s colorful canopy as a sign that summer is here. That’s the latest from Julie Holmes Studio. How about you gentle reader? What are signs of summer where you are? Please let me know by sharing in the comments below.
5 Comments
Beth Dyer Clary
May 27, 2021I’m CRAZY about this painting, Julie! It has such wonderful colors. I had never heard of Thollen. I’ll have to watch for him as museums open up and I spend some HOT summer days inside them, I hope!
There’s something about this gouache that appeals to me. As you know, I’m a huge fan of yours in any medium. But that gouache sends up something special. Plus, the red bud … sigh. Oklahoma state tree and one of the wonders of the woods!
What we call “The Great Green Veil” has dropped in our surroundings. All the trees are now leafed out – the Black Walnut and Ash are not quite fully leafed out but enough that we feel as if we are living with a green backdrop to our yard of critters, bugs, plants and animals, including some of OUR best dogs ever! 🙂
Julie Holmes
June 2, 2021Hiya Beth,
Woot! Glad you enjoyed this painting, Thollen and this week’s post.
Mostly, I’m delighted to hear that spring…heck summer…has started to stay where you are. Hooray! Enjoy the warmer climates and the best 4-leggeds in your world, toooooo! ;-D xoxoxo
Alexandra
May 27, 2021Inspiring post, Julie! I hadn’t heard of Tholen either. His paintings are indeed gorgeous. I love the cool and moody light he creates.
What you said about discovering landscape artists you had never heard before reminded me of a landscape artist I discovered this week at Blue Spiral, a gallery in downtown Asheville. His name is Luke Allsbrook. The way he captures natural light is mesmerizing and genius. That’s the only way I can describe it. He also paints a lot of trees. You may have heard of him already but if not, here’s a link to his site (it includes some time lapse videos of him painting, too, which I found incredibly useful): https://www.lukeallsbrook.com
Julie Holmes
June 2, 2021Hi Alexandra,
Thanks so much for looking at this week’s painting and Thollen, too.
And, I really appreciate your sharing Luke Allsbrook’s work, too. Wow! I have never heard of him. I especially enjoyed his forest interiors and will study them. Thank you so much! Take care and lots of love and good painting vibes to you!
Julie Holmes, Fine Artist, Oil Paintings, Drawings, Still Life, Dreamy Figure Paintings Why I love copying paintings by Julie Dyer Holmes
June 9, 2021[…] couple of week’s ago, I wrote about a landscape painter I had never heard of named Willem Bastiaan Tholen. This week, the adoration continues. Why? I am […]