Birling

This carries on from "Toscana" in that it's trees against sky but this time with a more Summery feeling to it with white clouds and blue sky. I had to resist the temptation to paint a second pass over the sky as I usually would and I'm glad I didn't as it would have looked less livelier and too photographic - I want them to look like paintings not photographs. I was also tempted on the second day to leave the trees and landscape as they were after the first pass because it really looked like sunlight on them but I deliberately painted another darker pass over them as that was the look I am trying out; also it looked more ordinary too. I'm still following the mantra of "Lose Edges, Join Shapes", all the foreground is of a similar dark value and therefore join together to form a stronger design shape within the picture. 
The trees are at Birling Gap on the South Coast of the UK, the prevailing wind having blown them into these elongated shapes.
I will continue developing this "look" over a couple more small paintings before making a start on a large commission.
Oil on linen 16" x 12".
There is a short step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.