Fall is in the Air!
Fall is in the Air
Before I share a couple of new “fall is in the air” paintings with you, I want to give you a quick update on the newest wedding painting.
Wedding Painting Update
While working on Caleb and Jessica’s wedding painting, I hit those moments where I needed some “thinking time”. You know, those “let me sleep on it” decisions. If I keep coming back to the same conclusion, I am ready to move forward with confidence it is the best solution. Certainly, planning the composition is key to the very foundation and ultimate success of the painting. There are so many fabulous options and directions to go, that narrowing it down can be tough! Anyway, I have finalized the composition and am working on the drawing now. Super excited to dive in and see what happens. While I am not quite ready to share at this point, I should have an update next week.
Fall is in the Air
In the meantime, during those “thinking moments”, I took a break to paint a couple fall scenes in the forest. Sometimes it helps to focus on something else and come back with fresh eyes. Really helps to clarify the best choices!
This lovely fall scene is late in the afternoon, towards sunset, when the sun is starting to dip behind the hills. Rich colors of reds, oranges, greens and violets are cast in the forest, on the hillsides, and on the forest floor. Leaves have fallen on the creek and the trees are reflected on the turquoise blue water.
This is another scene along Sciscoe Creek in Yellowwood State Forest, in the autumn. The gray violet makes for a nice depth in the forest with the reds, yellows, and chartreuse popping forward.
Roots and Derivatives
Sometimes I like to know where a word comes from so I looked up the word “chartreuse”. How in the world was a yellow-green color named “chartreuse”???? And here is what I found in Wikipedia:
“Chartreuse (US: /ʃɑːrˈtruːz,-ˈtruːs/ (
listen), UK: /-ˈtrɜːz/,[1] French: [ʃaʁtʁøz]),[2] also known as yellow-green, is a color between yellow and green. It was named because of its resemblance to the green color of one of the French liqueurs called green chartreuse, introduced in 1764. Similarly, chartreuse yellow is a yellow color mixed with a small amount of green that was named because of its resemblance to the color of one of the French liqueurs called yellow chartreuse, introduced in 1838.[3]
The French word chartreuse means “charterhouse”. The monasteries that the monks of the Carthusian order (who started producing Chartreuse liqueur in 1764) live in, of which the first one was established in 1082 by Saint Bruno, are called charter houses because they were chartered—and given generous material support—by the Duke of Burgundy known as Philip the Bold when he took over the area in 1378. Philip the Bold’s elaborately decorated tomb was initially installed at a Carthusian charterhouse when he died in 1404.[4] ”
So there you go.
Enjoy this gorgeous fall weather while you can! Won’t be long before the long, dark days of winter are upon us.
Thanks for following along.
Happy trails,
Charlene
