Here is the Howe Covered Bridge in oil paint on a late winter day. I was inspired by a great oil painter, Aldo Hibbard from the 1920's. He was a Vermont painter and excellent at capturing the very low light which occurs all year in Vermont! He allowed objects to have similar values, but different colors and this way his "edges" are sublime and so subtle.
Look at the blue house and the tree at its left side, or
the tree and the bridge.

Here is a painting that is all about the paint. And color? Its about the complimentary colors. Twenty-five percent warm colors and seventy-five percent cool colors! Complimentary colors are any conbination of "blues and ochres." If the colors feel good they are complimentary. They may not be exactly across from each on the color wheel, but one hue and its complimentary neutral! 

Come join the fun in Burlington, VT at UVM OLLI, Saturday, Mar. 16th. I will teach two classes-take both! In the morning we will Paint Trees with Beautiful Brushstrokes and in the afternoon we will Paint Dark Rich Colors.
This Ponderosa Pine stood in Yosemite. I saw it from the car and "memorized" its shape, color, and value changes. When I had time to paint it, I used the best brushstrokes to shape and add color to a tree on paper. Then I quit and let the painting rest. It was only later that I realized I was finished. Be sure to look at each painting as a finished painting, not an endless project!