Trenholme Park Sun Down

After work I shuffled over to Trenholme park before the sun went down and reeled off some paintings. This one shows the light and shadows from unseen trees, undulating over the grassy fields with the fenced-in game area in the background. As I painted the yellowish objects on the ground it took a few moments to accept the fact that there were leaves on the ground already. Its a little too early to say fall is here, but the evidence is clear. 

Trenholme Park light and shadows, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3547a)

 

Feeling exhausted, I continued standing and made another painting from the exact vantage point but focusing on the interesting twisty tree. A hopeful squirrel sat at my foot looking up for handouts. I chose the st Armand paper for this one to help with the textural effects of the tree bark and rough filed full of fallen leaves. The fence with colourful pendants is visible in the background but downplayed in the composition to emphasize the tree.

Trenholme Park twisty tree, watercolour 4 3/4 x 6.5", rough press st Armand, September 2023 (No. 3557)

I found a place to sit for this one, its a scene of the concrete shuffle board installations with tree shadows angled across their surface. It was a tough scene to get right, I made sure that the shadow washes had enough paint in them to dry mid-value. Often times in watercolours the shadows are going to dry light which necessitates fussing around. I learned over the years to apply the paint a bit stronger than you think since dark paint dries about a shade lighter. There were also leaves strewn about the game area, so it seems real that fall is on the horizon. I just hope we get a sharp cold snap followed by weeks of sun which produces the best tree colours as opposed to last year when it was cold, rainy and windy the whole of fall. At any rate, I just enjoy getting out and painting whatever the weather or scenery might be like.

Trenholme Park Game Area, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3547b)