Where did you get your inspiration for this piece?
I live and work from my home studio in Dorset, near The New Forest which inspires many of my forest, woodland landscape paintings, it’s a magical place, with pathways and miles of trails, shaded by many varieties of trees, including majestic ancient beech and oak trees
My aim is to bring the atmosphere and mood of a place into the work, an impressionistic view, combining realism and imagined aspects. The flickering sunlight through the trees, the patterns formed by the branches and leaves, how light effects and changes all the colours of the forest, Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year, I’ve included many of the beautiful golden Autumnal shades in this painting
What is your creative process?
I work intuitively, building up layers of paint, finding and refining abstract shapes and negative spaces to create interest, creating the contrast between the lights and darks. As the painting progresses my emotional response to the scene is captured onto canvas, I used oil paints in this piece, for the subtle blends and luminosity, to create the beautiful effects of light and shade on the landscape, instilling vibrant colour and texture into the painting
How long did it take you?
This piece took a couple of weeks, working in 2-3 hour sessions, leaving the paint to dry and then returning to it, in total it took approx. 10 hours to complete
View more work by Stella Dunkley
