The light in early November
"Early November"
A depiction of the light of early November on the leafless and wizend tree. Trees, particularly weathered old trees are always inspiring to me. This work is a cousin of several other of my recent works, all of which are the genesis of two sketches – one in pencil and one in watercolor – done on Boston Common in June of 2003.
This painting began, as many of my paintings do, while perusing old sketchbooks. While paging through, I again came across the pencil sketch from my trip to Boston. As usual for me, the rugged, weathered look of the trunk was attractive. The sort of tripod form of the main branches as they grow up and away along with the sense of the main trunk twisting over itself also caught my eye.
Often, upon finding an inspiring sketch, I’ll begin composing a new painting. In this case, I decided to create another pencil sketch using this sketch as the model for the new drawing.
This was last November. I am very attracted to the quality of light in November. It is clear and bright and yet is also obviously fading. The shadows cast on a sunny November day are sharp but seem to have a transparency that is different from other times of the year. In the painting, I wanted to capture the sense of November light as well as the character of this old tree.
The new pencil sketch is shown below.
In the sketch, I tried to create a new tree, but wanted to retain the sense of twisting trunk and the tripod form of the main branches. Once complete, the sketch remained near my easel for some time while I considered it’s possibilities as a finished painting. Obviously, the sketch was turned into a painting, the one featured on this post.
As I mentioned, this work is the cousin of several others. One in particular , “Prairie Oak“, has had particular success in juried exhibits – it is shown below.
“Prairie Oak“
Interested in either of these paintings or any of my other works – contact me via email – mail@tonyconner.com; or by phone – 802-753-1156
My artists website - www.tonyconner.com
My architectural illustration website – www.tc-ai.com My house portrait website – www.houseportraits.biz
