Snaketree - stage 1

I will be doing a couple of smaller tree paintings trying things out for an upcoming figurative painting called "Dawn of the Hamadryad". I learnt a few things from an earlier smaller painting from the beginning of the year called "Elies Dendro" and am taking these further. I quite like the monochrome stage as it is now and may do one of these again just in that form but for this one I will be taking it further even though I might spoil it because I have a certain look I'm trying to attain and it has to be in relatively full colour.
This stage was painted in without any drawing underneath as I wanted it to be spontaneous and organic like Nature. I used a 1/2" synthetic brush pushing around a paint mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet mixed with plenty of Liquin. Some paint was then removed with a small bristle brush dipped in clean turpentine.