Mostly Sweet

9/27/16 water-soluble colored pencils, ink

Once I get out of denial and accept the end of summer, I fully embrace fall; it has always been my favorite season. (It’s only been since I began sketching that I’ve had ambivalence about it.) Brilliant foliage; cloudy mornings that burn off to sunny afternoons warm enough to take the top down; the return of salted caramel mochas: What’s not to love?

Last year on Labor Day weekend I sketched some slender maples in Metropolitan Market’s parking lot when they were still mostly green, so I wondered what they looked like now. Shopping there on Monday, I saw that they were showing a full palette of hues – everything from dark green to yellow to orange to crimson and magenta. I went back the next day and sketched them with the top down. Autumn is bittersweet – but on that day, it was mostly sweet.

What’s the color palette in your part of the world?