I think I must say this every year when the fall season starts but it seems the color change is occurring at a rather slow pace this year.  We did have a rather wet summer so maybe the amount of rain has an impact on the fall transition.  Regardless, the fall season is one of my favorites to go out and do some outdoor painting.  

There is something absolutely magical about fall weather.  This change in seasons cannot only be seen, it can be smelled as well, especially when one takes a hike through the woods.  One of my favorite experiences when I go out archery hunting in the fall is sitting in the treestand and getting caught in what I call a "leafnado".  This occurs when the leaves are starting to really let go and a good breeze comes through and there is basically a curtain of falling leaves.  Brilliant yellows, reds and oranges cascading all around you in pure silence, almost like a snowfall.  At that moment, you take in a deep breath of that earthy fall smell and it is just so....sublime.

With the temperature at a comfortable level, the wonderful color transitions and just the overall environment, the draw to paint outside is too great to resist.  The challenge with fall painting though is that very thing that makes one want to go out and paint.   The endless variations and possibilities of vibrant colors.  One cannot wait to start mixing those cadmium yellows and reds to create these intense hues one sees in the landscape.  As you begin to apply paint, you quickly realize there is such a thing as too much intensity and bold color.  In fact, you begin to feel you are chasing your tail trying to create that sense of vibrant color the more you mix those yellows and reds in their pure forms.

It took me quite some time to realize that the best way to actually create the sense of the more intense leaf colors without losing color harmony was to focus more on the surrounding color.  What I discovered was that if I use colors that are much more neutral and grayed in the background and  passages of the painting surrounding where I want to show more intense color, the more saturated colors tend to stand out.  In fact, I have found that when this is done correctly, I do not need to mix pure color to create the desired intensity of the fall color.  The more neutral background will make the fall color jump even when the fall color might be somewhat neutralized itself.  

I also discovered the other method of making this work is to not only use neutralized colors in the background but to also use compliments of color next to one another.  The yellows, reds and oranges will stand out even more if I use some of the dulled greens, blues and violets in the surrounding color.  I suggest that in your next painting efforts of fall colors to consider playing around with using backgrounds of more neutralized colors and consider making some of these colors the compliments of the focal colors you are trying to capture.

Regardless of how you decide to go out and paint this fall, as usual, the important thing is that you are going outside to paint.  Painting from direct observation of nature has been the one thing that has helped me grow as an artist.  Whether or not the painting itself is a success is not important because the actual effort of trying to paint what you see and not what you think you see is valuable experience.  Consider all of these efforts as studies.  Your goal should not be to create a final "wall hanger" painting but to gather and collect information.  Look at it this way, if one is going to and should paint from life, what better place and motivation is there to do it then in the fall season on a beautiful fall day?  If you are lucky and in the right place at the right time, you may even get to experience your own personal "leafnado"!