Summer's end part two....

I have finished the painting I spoke of in my last post.... I have titled it Gathering Storm. To this end I have used a number of techniques within the piece. The sky is obvious, but within the painting of the sky there are echos and shadows of the underpainted tree branches. These have been left intentionally, they add a feeling of restlessness movement to the trees without animation in the painting. The lines and bow curves of the tree branches are designed to give the impression of whipping movement and tension within the tree. Within the painting of the tree boughs and branches I have tried to create a restlessness using uneven brush marks along with the uncoordinated shapes of the branches.

The magpies themselves also help the stormy effect. The top left magpie is either struggling to perch, or just arriving to join the others.

I have used six of the birds in reference to the old Rhyme, One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy. Five for silver, six for gold. Seven for a secret, never to be told ,eight for a wish, nine for a kiss.
Ten for a bird you must not miss.

The number of birds is designed to help the collectability of the painting, being a good number to have if someone is superstitious. The number is not an important factor in the composition, just the variety of their stance, the top left craning it's neck looking down, as is the bottom right bird, as they do when scolding the cat. These are incidental to the mood of the painting which also carries the threat of the storm within the tree itself, and from the dirty grey sky behind.

I feel the painting works well, pleasing to the eye while still holding the threat of an impending storm, with the cameo of magpies adding further interest.