Autumn leaves success at last

Having enjoyed a long Indian summer, autumn has finally arrived in Sydney. Our autumn leaves are no way as fine as Canberra or Melbourne. However, this grove of plum trees at Peace Park near my house caught my eye on a walk one day. It was magnificent: well, it was for Sydney. So I resolved to paint these trees but because the camera never captures the colours like life, I decided to paint plein air. Thanks to my friend Doreen taking Miss 6 year old out, I had the opportunity last Saturday, which was a lovely warm day. Plein air or studio, I had to have my iPod play music and was set up with a small table for brushes and paint.



At first there were few at the park and nobody took much notice except for one guy with a dog who conspired to peer at my attempt from the back. Then a woman came with her daughter and talked. I did my best to ignore them but they were persistent. The kid was very chatty and asked lots of questions. She also volunteered a lot of info which further convinced me that school teachers know all family secrets. I had to come back the following day as the light was fading fast.

The following day attracted more mothers with their children and I ignored them best as I could as I was desperate to complete this as quickly as possible, due to the hot sun. But I think that the results are worth the pain of curious passerbys. When painting on the scene, the beauty of the original inspires the painting. Painting from a photo is another step removed. Does this attempt look like a golden autumnal afternoon?