With the theme of flying leaves still on my mind since my last painting, while also remembering a few previous paintings in which I depicted the silhouettes of flocks of birds, I wanted to paint a dramatic image of both leaves AND birds, seeming to fly towards and around the viewer in a big “whoosh!”
![Whoosh. 18" x 24″, Oil on Canvas, © Cedar Lee 2015](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Whoosh.jpg)
Besides the beautiful movements of all those fluttering little objects filling the canvas, a row of back-lit trees creates a pattern of glowing light and shadow, with columns of light shining through between the trees onto the red and orange foreground.
![Close-up Detail: Whoosh. 18" x 24″, Oil on Canvas, © Cedar Lee 2015](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Whoosh-detail3.jpg)
In some spots, the distant, fuzzy outlines of the birds fly right alongside the colorful shapes of the leaves, blending together against the blue sky like multi-colored confetti.
![Close-up Detail: Whoosh. 18" x 24″, Oil on Canvas, © Cedar Lee 2015](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Whoosh-detail1.jpg)
The red/yellow/blue color palette is striking. I love this painting so much!
![Close-up Detail: Whoosh. 18" x 24″, Oil on Canvas, © Cedar Lee 2015](https://www.artbycedar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Whoosh-detail2.jpg)