(3) Cherry Trees

11 x 14” watercolor on paper - not for sale

18 x 24” oil on paper - not for sale
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Mid July and the cherries were in abundance. I became overwhelmed trying to paint the endless red dots ... after much labor gave in to a depiction of the fruit. The base of each tree is surrounded with heavy plastic mesh to protect against girdling by small animals that chew away the bark.

As the cherry trees were too dense, I did not use the purple line, however, the apple trees in the background benefited from the outlining. I like the apple trees in this picture the most, they have simplicity and character, the "ladies" as Nick would call them seem to be ready to spring into dance. I used a yellow wash to bring out the sun light in the trees, it worked well.
The oil version includes much darker colors, especially the shade from the trees. I worked far too long in this piece, especially the leaves of the cherry trees. Unlike the water color that used white space to bring out the leaves of the cherry trees, the oil did not need this. The lack of white allowed a blending of the green shades of the cherry, apple and trees of the far background (which was much more of a reality than the water color). Here I found myself using more senses than just my eyes … “children, like animals, use all their senses to discover the world. Then artists come along and discover it the same way all over again.” Eudora Welty.