This is my newest painting "Autumn Light". My goal in this one was a lot of soft light in the background contrasted with a lot of texture in the foreground. Light in the back is achieved with layers of washes and the texture on the tree bark and grasses is achieved with very thick paint laid on with a pallet knife.
When using a pallet knife there are basically two or three motions that I use. With the tree bark I painted the shape of the trunks in with a brush using a neutral gray tone then I used the pallet knife in kind of a "touch and pull" motion across the trunk. You have to use a light touch doing this so the paint just comes off the knife. In the grassy areas I just touch the knife to the canvas and let the paint pull off the knife onto the canvas. If there is any stroke that doesn't look right I just rub it out with the knife.
I added blue to some of the sky area peaking through the trees in the back and on the shadow side of the trees to counteract the strong reddish tone of the painting. I also added touches of green in the grasses.
Prints can be purchased form this link. Paine Out!