Creating a mystical feeling

Do you enjoy looking at a photograph that captures a serene mood, whether by the lake or late night scene or rainy day?

Recently, I tried to create a painting with a mystical feeling with a quiet mood.

I used numerous combination of blues, yellows, and greens to create this peaceful forest. Green exudes a tranquil soothing mood. Many blues were used to create a restful and serene mood. I also wanted the viewer to feel curious about the lit area behind the dominant tree.

The role of values played an important role to achieve this effect and many thin layers of paint were used in this watercolour. The composition of the painting was kept fairly simple with mostly cool colours and one dominant areas of warm colours - the trunk of the evergreen.

This painting was not inspired by any specific photo. However, I did want to paint an evergreen using a slightly different approach than I've been using and the rest was painted to support that tree.

This morning I embark on another large painting of apple blossoms. The last one required about 10 hours of work. This one will be no different. Therefore, I hope to share it with you in a couple of weeks.

I invite you to the opening of Mosaic, Arteast Ottawa's latest juried show. The reception takes place on Sunday, February 15th 2015, from 1-3 p.m. in the Trinity Gallery on the Ground Floor of the Shenkman Arts Centre, 245 Centrum Blvd. in Orleans.  If you come, you'll find my first apple blossom hanging in the gallery.  Hope to see you there.

Have a great week
Danielle