This is a little demo I did for a one day workshop I taught today in Sunnyvale, TX. We talked about composition, abstracting nature, and what a tonal underpainting can do to add atmosphere to a painting.

This painting explores the threshold between decay and renewal. At first glance the trees seem lifeless, stripped down to what remains after growth has passed. Yet the light seeps through and around these forms like breath in a body. Transforming what could feel desolate into something hopeful, reminding us that even in bareness there is vitality. The trees are not dead; they are enduring. Their exposed structure becomes a testament to resilience—the underlying framework that allows life to return.