Mini Forest Paintings | Redwood Trees Art | Sunshine in the Woods

These six small paintings all depict glorious sunlight shining through majestic woodlands.

Here is “Luminous Redwoods.”

This painting was inspired by a hike on a sunny summer day through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

The forest looks especially dramatic spread out across this panorama format.

From the left side of the image, the warm glow of the sun peeks through the towering tree trunks.

When you look at the foliage up close, you can see the loose, playful brush strokes.

The bark of this variety of redwood tree, coastal redwoods, is often light gray in color. In this painting, there are many subtle colors added into the grays.

Here is “Sunlit Giants.”

The vibrant yellow-green foliage, the bright white sunlight in the sky, the deep shadows, and the vibrant reddish brown of the redwood bark all work together to give this painting a warm and sunny feeling.

The hot summer sun casts light on the rough tree bark.

Looking at the whole image, we get the feeling of standing in the forest surrounded by this circle of giant trees.

A closer look at the details shows individual brush strokes, placed expressively in swipes and dots that form the negative shapes of light coming through the tree canopy, or branches full of greenery.

Small lines form swooping branches.

Here is “Forest Sun Portal.”

The sun is so intense, glowing out from the center of the canvas, that it has the effect of pulling the viewer into a portal of light!

The edges of the trees on either side of the sun are washed out in its brilliant glow.

Surprising hints of magenta and violet show up in the blinding light.

Here is “Heat from the Sky.”

This painting is alive with bright yellow and white.

Up close, it looks very abstract, but still gives the effect of bright dappled sunshine moving through a forest.

This small painting is full of painterly details. You can see many layers of warm colors shining through the top layers of paint.

The light from the sky shines down so brightly it almost eliminates the top edge of the painting when it’s hung on a white wall!

Here is “Light Between Trees.”

This painting was inspired by a hike through Forest Park in Portland, Oregon, in the afternoon when the sun was starting to get low in the sky.

The brilliant sun makes the trunks of the two trees light up in orange and yellow.

The contrast of very deep black shadows against the bright white light gives this small painting a big impact.

The light golden green of the lit-up leaves makes the whole scene glow, and we can imagine being right there in the sunny forest.

Here is “Sunny Heart.”

Most people who have been to visit California’s giant redwoods in person will relate to the feeling of elation that tends to go along with the experience.

The title of the painting refers to both the emotion of feeling joyous and cheerful, that is, having a sunny heart, and the shape of a heart formed by the light in the sky!

This painting has beautiful blue tones in the sky that complement the red-orange colors in the redwood tree trunks.

This is for anyone who wants to celebrate the feeling of love and gratitude that can be found by immersing ourselves in nature.

Contact me if you’re interested in any of these original paintings. Prints are also available of all of them!