As spring dawns on the Southeast (FINALLY?!?), I find myself homesick for Wisconsin again. Today it was the region that I went to college (River Falls, GO FALCONS). The hills that were missed by the glaciers, the river valleys, and the hay harvest. Since fall was the best time of the year, with all of the turning colors, I wanted to emulate that in my art.

After tracing out and coloring in the barn and hay bales, I wanted to make sure that the canopy looked see through, as there are much less leaves on the tree to block it out.

Base tree trunks, so the trees canopies appear see through.

Then I colored in the trees with a base color.

Adding the colors to the canopy from early fall.

Then I layered more leaf colors into the canopy.

Finally, I added in the last minute details on the barn, trees, and the sky. I think it turned out ok, though a better pastel artist would have focused more on the details of the tree. Overall, it turned out ok, but it wasn’t what I was looking for, and it isn’t my best. However, the person who commissioned it really loves it.

The final barnyard product.