Desperate for some inspiration in the form of the landscape, I have travelled up to the forestry centre every week for the last three weeks. Never sure what exactly I am going to paint until I reach my chosen location, I look for areas where dominant forms and colour contrasts catch my eye. After I have established an area I feel impelled to represent through paint, I will then calculate the most effective composition by doing a thumbnail sketch.
On my second trip, I had a vague idea of the area I wished to paint since the last time I was there. I started to paint this particular composition, but felt restricted by the size of the canvas I had brought along with me, so I decided to not spend any longer on this painting. Instead, I took photographs of the composition and used this and my unfinished painting to construct a painting on a larger canvas.
For this painting, I took some reference from my sources, however, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and focus on presenting a painting which evoked a deeper sense of emotion through my colour palette. I have also chosen to select aspects of the landscape I wish to include (e.g. one side of the tree’s branches), in order to emphasise the atmosphere I wish to convey. For me, this painting represents my own journey to Aberystwyth, of which I felt compelled to take before I came to University,
On my most recent trip to Nant Yr Arian, I was instantly drawn to a tree of which its leaves had already made their transformation to a copper/yellow and were slowly falling. Intrigued by a particular section of the tree which had been exposed through the departure of its leaves, I set out to paint it. Unlike previous works, which have mostly represented a distant view, I focused in on the part which captured my attention! Instead of creating a detailed background, I mixed up colours present behind my subject (rolling hills and forest) and quickly applied them to my canvas. By doing this, I was able to spend ore time on representing the detail of my chosen subject, in order to work out what it was that grasped my interest. I decided not to include the remaining leaves which were present in the scene, as I didn’t feel that it would add to the painting in any way. Similarly to my previous painting, I have been able to manipulate the painting through a selection process. I feel that in future, this process of working will allow me to create paintings which can evoke particular feelings.
Adalia Mynett 
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