This is a tree that lies in my front yard, blocking the view from my window out onto the street below. I remember trying to climb up onto the branches, and once I found a yellow jacket nest up on one of the highest limbs. The feeling I am trying to convey is not nostalgia, but more to confirm that autumn is here. The branches are dead, the leaves are falling, and now the tree is just a dark silhouette against the bright blue sky. In the oil painting, you can start to see the true color of the leaves that remain on the tree, which is something I had difficulty getting while I was taking the picture in the first place. The sun was starting to set, and the natural light diminished while I was trying to take these.
Valentine |
Autumn Has Arrived |
In a park across the street from my house, there are two maple trees that stand side by side. In the fall, as you can see, the leaves change into the most beautiful reds and oranges that stand out against the blue backdrop. It's not so much an emotion I am trying to convey, but just an image of how nature can work out wonderfully to create such a pretty picture. In the first photo, you can see just the tops of the trees. Doesn't it look like the top half of a heart?
Cobwebs and Raindrops |
Dainty Little Petals |
These are plants that my friend has in her garden, just outside of her house. The colors of the flowers that bud and the leaves that grew created an amazing contrast against the rainy backdrop that I had to work with. I tried my best to capture the rain drops on the petals, and I had a hard time trying to take these photos without any flash or any other light. My camera isn't very good at taking photos in low light, but I'm glad the leaves turned out vibrant. I am trying to show that the colors of nature are the real color palettes, and make up the paintings that memories store in our minds.
Peek-a-Boo |
Sailor's Delight |
These trees are found next to a soccer field connected to the elementary school I went to. When I was a kid, I always wanted to go into the forest and ditch school and all my friends just to see what was out there, but my teacher would always catch me in the act. I took these at dusk, right as the sun was parting through the trees and I could not be more pleased with how these turned out. I have no complaints, it was't difficult to take these. I am trying to convey a relaxing feeling, as sunsets mean that the day is ending and it is time to go to bed.
Legs of a Spider |
Spooky Silhouettes |
At my grandmas house up north, there are dark trees like this all around the house. They're like this all year, giving a spooky feeling in the air. Just before Halloween, my grandma would put up spiderwebs and bats and creatures up in the branches, staring down at everyone who came up to her house. I wanted to convey that feeling, the feeling of Halloween and the fun that it brings throughout all of October. Again, there was very low light and I couldn't take very good, and non-blurry pictures, but I managed to make the most out of the light I had.