Overcup Oak Leaf Painting

Have you ever seen an Overcup Oak Leaf Painting? If you have, you might notice something surprising about it. But before I share that, I will welcome new readers and share the purpose of this blog and post.

Small Spaces Special Places

Welcome new readers! 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 of painting an overcup oak leaf!

Vive La Difference

One of the reasons I picked up this branch full of oak leaf overcup leaves is each leaf is so different. Now that I say this that it’s actually difficult to see the different leaves in the painting I did this week. Here it is!

What is strange and super cool about this branch of leaves is how unique each one is. Now I know there are certain characteristics of leaves. You can probably picture the star (ish) like shape of a Maple Leaf, for instance. But, this Overcup oak leaf has some leaf ‘relatives’ that look mighty different. And, this is true even when two leaves are next to each other on the same branch.

Here’s a photo of what I painted and you can see what I describe more clearly here.

See the way the middle leaf is long and narrow. Whereas it’s leaf ‘mates’ on either side are wider from the top of the stem. This is so interesting to me. Not as a scientist or botanist or forester. Just as an observer and artist. It speaks to the importance of making sure I think about the uniqueness of each shape that I make. Even if the shape is for a ‘thing’ that’s from the same ‘family.’

Composition

I did draw three different compositional sketches before I painted this arrangement. It’s so interesting to do these sketches. Today I felt a bit like kicking and screaming my way through these sketches. Why? Some days I just want to start painting! But I usually discover that these sketches really help me focus, get involved and evaluate what I’m doing.

And, even though I was relatively satisfied with the first composition, I went with a ‘hybrid’ solution of a combination of compositional sketch #2 and #3. Gah. I can’t find the sketches I did. They are here somewhere. But trust me. The sketches really helped me arrange this painting differently than I would have after the first sketch.

OK people, that’s the latest here from Julie Holmes Studio. Thank you for reading today. And please do share if you have seen the Overcup oak leaf in the comments below.