Nishna Greenway, November

Pastel, 14x18 on self-sanded board

In the late afternoon, the sunlight floods between the trees and timber on the old roadway that runs on top of the south levee at Nishna Bend Park near my hometown of Harlan, Iowa.  Almost all the leaves are gone from the trees, and the tall grass has turned to rust and gold, but the short grass on the greenway still blazes with color and life. In this painting I have tried to capture some of the multitude of contrasts for this time of the year - contrasts in color, in value, in temperature, in line, and in direction.