Under The Apple Tree

This is my last painting from our week-long workshop in Maine last August. I pledged to paint plein air on a larger scale, but alas, I was too busy teaching the workshop to finish many paintings. The first day in Maine, I tucked myself inside the tree and painted the branches, but didn't have time to finish the background. This Fall, after looking at the apple tree without a background, I decided I liked a more graphic look anyway, so the paint treatment of the water and sky is intentionally flat and vibrant. It makes the tree branches seem three-dimensional.