Transition Time

Beyond Colour – The Mood of Fall

When fall arrives in Canada, the painter’s palette expands dramatically. Summer’s green monotony gives way to an orchestra of hues—burnished ochres, crimson maples, amber poplars, deep violet shadows. This seasonal shift encourages artists to think differently about colour harmony.

For me, the atmosphere of the season is just as important as the colours themselves. The cool mornings, shifting skies, and fleeting mists all shape how I see and paint landscapes.

This is a reminder that painting is as much about feeling as seeing. In response I often focus on mood, as the landscape becomes less about detail and more about impression and if offers opportunities for increased abstraction, where shapes and forms dissolve into atmosphere.

Working outdoors, or en plein air, becomes a lesson in speed and observation—mist can vanish in minutes, and light shifts faster than in summer. You must decide: capture the impression quickly, or hold on to memory and reinterpret later in the studio.

The Drama of Autumn Light

The light of Canadian fall is sharper, more angled, and more dramatic than in summer. Afternoons often glow with golden warmth, while evenings bring crisp, clear skies that intensify contrast. This shifting light encourages spontaneity, making each painting session an act of improvisation.

Capturing the Emotion of Transition

Fall is a season of endings—of harvest, of leaves, of warmth. That awareness often finds its way into my brushstrokes carrying a sense of movement, change, and passage. I particularly enjoy using expressive brushwork, to convey urgency and motion and weave in layered compositions, reflecting both abundance and decline.

In this way, fall landscapes become not just about what is seen, but about what is felt—the poignancy of a season on the cusp of winter.

Conclusion: Painting Autumn’s Spirit

For me painting in autumn is about painting atmosphere as well as transitioning to the vibrant fall colours. It’s about capturing the way light stretches across the landscape and the feeling of change carried in the crisp air. Autumn is about going beyond realism, to create works that resonate with the emotion of transition.

For viewers, these paintings become reminders of a fleeting, luminous season that defines the Canadian landscape.

Thanks for the read. Until next