Copper in the Clouds

Inspired by the rich copper tones of the autumn leaves, I wanted to create a piece which explored a focussed and autumnal palette, with a large canvas in mind I hoped to explore and create something that created the soft warm feeling of late afternoon sun in autumn.

I started out by priming the canvas with a mix of very watery sienna, ochre and olive green leaving gaps to give the effect of light coming through the leaves on the trees and allowing the colours to move and blend.

Copper tones are hidden underneath the cloudy sky, occasionally peeking through and dappled greens, are visible in certain lights towards the bottom of the picture, giving the inverse colourway to brown leaves on green grass.

The final element was the tiny castle hidden on the hill, this is an ode to Dunster Castle as you look at it from the showground, but it could also be Hogwarts if you wanted it to be!

I'm really pleased with the finished piece, it turned out better than I expected and I love the effect of the coppers in the sky and some of the textures on the ground, I will definitely be creating more pieces in this style as it was great fun to paint too!