Branches and Leaves

"Branches and Leaves," acrylic on 8 x 8 canvas

"How the Almighty had made the earth
a gleaming plain girdled with waters;
in His splendour He set the sun and the moon
to be earth's lamplight, lanterns for men,
and filled the broad lap of the world
with branches and leaves; and quickened life
in every other thing that moved."  - Beowulf

I always spend a lot of time planning and thinking about any art project before I begin to work.  My main goal in this painting, however, was to put aside all of the planning and thinking and just create.  My inspiration started with the first leaves of fall:

 

Given that Texas does not typically acknowledge autumn until closer to Christmastime, these leaves were a surprise.  I used the colors of the leaves to paint a background.

I added a bright moon, then collaged the actual leaves on top and added more glaze, still drawing from the leaves' colors.  I found some branches on my way to painting class, and decided to paint the branches into the painting.  I used some modeling paste to give one of the branches a more 3-D effect.  I made them gray for a cool contrast effect.  I added quite a few coats of high gloss varnish along the way, mainly to preserve my organic leaves. 

I added a third branch in and painted metallic colors over the leaves.  By this point, the leaves were so glossy and slippery that it was difficult to get the paint to take.  At last, I managed!

As my painting came together, I found myself mainly concerned with balance, especially as I decided to go with an even number of objects. I feel like the painting is well balanced, despite that even number.  Next, I determined the correct orientation of my painting.

Lastly, I added a coat of poly-resin to create a glass-like finish, and also to preserve my organic leaves for the life of the painting.