Olive Tree in Occitania

Christine Pratt

This is my second version of the same olive tree. The first was completed some months ago on a smaller scale in pastels. This time, I used acrylic paints on stretched canvas, aiming to create a similar impressionistic effect.
I felt that this enlarged version required an even freer, bolder treatment. Somehow, the tree needed to be brought to life; natural tones were no longer enough to do it justice. Stepping away from realism, I introduced unlikely shades of blue, turquoise and lime green.These added the vibrancy that I had been searching for. To portray the swirling motion of the leaves, I used the edge of a palette knife, sweeping lines across the canopy of the tree. This final version now verges on the semi-abstract.

See Christine Pratt’s Gallery