Sometimes the most rewarding paintings come from environments hidden in plain sight.
For the many years I have been hiking and exploring the hills and mountains of California. There are places I pass by on a regular basis, but it's only when I decide to take the road less traveled do I stumble upon some of these magical and untouched places. In the case of the painting "Forest of Moss", this is a spot I had passed by on hikes for 20 years before I decided to explore the dark patch of woods. On the top of a hill in my home town is a small group of bay trees with their canopies reaching down to the ground, hiding the moss boulders covering the ground from which the trees reside. My first encounter here was in the summer when the moss was dry.
Later that year I decided to visit the trees again, but this time it was after the rain and the moss had come to life in shades of green so vivid that I knew I wanted to try to recreate its beauty on canvas. I knew at this time of year the moss would retain its bright green colors, so I timed my next visit so to have the scene in the fog, and when I got there it was even more incredible than I hoped it would be. The fog had started to fade away leaving a thin layer between the trees and the sky. The result was a very muted forest floor void of any shadows with a wonderful filtered light coming through the canopy.
With the continual moisture that comes with the winter season and fog, the floor of the forest was dotted with mushrooms and bright orange leaves from the bay trees, and quietly traveling through this wet environment was a red belly newt on his way to a unknowable destination. Having to grow among the many boulders, the trees twist and bend as they make their way up towards the light above the canopy making this scene even more spectacular.
When I started this painting I wanted to make it large in order to capture the feeling and detail of the moss. I settled on painting the original on a 30"x40" canvas with acrylic paint. The moss was given several layers of detail to give it a velvety soft look, and the greens were built up in the layers to be brighter as their curves reach the edges of the rocks, while the trees are dark with shadows adding a stronger contrast to the overall image. As your eye scans the painting, you come to the foreground where you find the lone newt marching to the edge of a large boulder going forward as if there were a final destination intended.
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