When I was younger, I was obsessed with drawing trees. In honor of my youthful hobby, and the fact that I am surrounded by an oak woodland, I have embarked on a new project. I spent the last couple of days trying to capture the light in the surrounding trees at different times of the day.

Last night I happened to glance out the window before retiring, and the moon, which is almost full, was illuminating the dry grass/weeds on the hill above the cabin. The oaks were dark creatures reaching upwards toward the night sky.

I tried to memorize the scene, and this afternoon I sat on the porch and attempted to re-create the image in my mind while observing the hillside vegetation in very different light. Not exactly the point of en plein air painting, which is supposed to capture the light of the moment.

Oh well, here is what I created. I completed the watercolor painting in about two hours, which may be a record for me. It was very warm out, so the paint dried fast!

I began by sketching the scene with my favorite Prismacolor pencil, Goldenrod. Then I put down a minimal layer of Cadmium Yellow Pale mixed with Yellow Ochre.

Next I used Prussian Blue to begin creating contrast.

Alizarin Crimson helped to create the contrast I wanted.

I continued mixing and layering my colors. Then I added some detail with smaller brushes.

This represents the feeling I got when I saw the hillside in the moonlight. It glows!