An autumn walk can turn up a wealth of colorful fallen leaves. I find myself returning from each hike with a handful of beauty. This particular maple leaf, with its red, green and yellow splotches seemed the perfect subject for a gouache painting.
Gouache is much like watercolor, but it's opaque, so you can paint contrasting colors over one another, and light colors over darker ones.
I began this painting with an ink sketch of the leaf in my nature journal. I chose tubes of colors to match and began painting the larger swaths of red, painting them in. As I painted, I noticed the nuanced darker and lighter red areas, and added them. (Paints used = Quinacridone Rose, Quinacridone Red and Alizarin Crimson.)
Finally, I got down to all the detailed veins, spots and blobs of different colors. (Chrome Yellow Hue, Sap Green, & Burnt Umber. The shadow colors used were Ultramarine Blue & Alizarin Crimson.)
I love details! The places an insect chewed the leaf, the spots where the green contrasts brightly against the red, and the lovely little veins that show through catch my attention and delight me.
Here's the final leaf painting. I especially love working from life -- the leaf -- rather than a photograph of the leaf. There's something compelling about nature in the present moment. Though I take loads of photos, I'm far more likely to sketch and paint actual natural treasures in front of me.
What do you love to look at? Have you ever sketched it? You could record the details about your favorite things that make them special to you with a simple sketch -- or two, or more!
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