Woods of Colour

Feeling colour

A few days ago I shared in my post The Wood of Love a painting with you that was inspired by the Bois d'Amour in Pont-Aven, Brittany.

From my post The Wood of Love

Something else inspired me whilst I was stood in the Bois d'Amour, and that was the words of the artist Paul Gauguin.

According to the artist Maurice Denis, Gauguin had told Séruzier : "How do you see these trees? They are yellow. So, put in yellow; this shadow, rather blue, paint it with pure ultramarine; these red leaves? Put in vermilion".

Gauguin had given the painter Séruzier a lesson when stood in Bois d'Amour. Looking at the effects of light in that same landscape I started to really feel the meaning behind those words.

I began my own experiments with colour and line

To me the forest floor felt like it was glowing a vibrant red of rusted leaves and earth. The shadows of the undergrowth felt blue against the yellow pouring through the canopy of the leaves.

I'm going to use this final watercolour image as inspiration for a more textured acrylic painting.