Sun-Dappled Sequoias

Here is “Sun-Dappled Sequoias.”

It is among the largest paintings I’ve done.

Cedar Lee painting: “Sun-Dappled Sequoias” large scale wall art

The colors include pops of bright turquoise, purple, magenta, yellow and tangerine orange. Aside from those artistic color choices, when you look at the image in its entirety, it appears as a realistic image of an ancient redwood forest–you are looking up into the treetops.

The light and heat from this sunny day are bouncing off of the thousands of evergreen needles far above your head, the sun filtering down and glimmering like countless little diamonds.

Upon closer examination, every part of the painting is full of interesting details. The negative spaces of the light sky between the overhead foliage appear as a multitude of colorful cells.

In the bark of the giant tree on the left, and in the thick foliage, bits are illuminated by brilliant sunlight, intensely contrasted against the dark colors in the shadows.

Long curving branches overlap to create geometric patterns. Squiggly lines work alongside straight lines. Warm colors push up against cool.

There is movement in every corner of the painting, inviting the viewer to get lost in the details.

Cedar Lee forest painting work in progress

This painting has taken many hours to complete, over the course of the past month! Painting something so large but also so detailed has been a big challenge for me, and also a lot of fun.

My favorite part was seeing it all come together in the last few hours as I added the finishing touches.

All art is much better experienced in person, but this is especially so with large-scale art. It fills a whole wall of my studio!

Nothing can truly capture the awesome experience of physically being on the floor of giant redwood forest, but this painting evokes some of that feeling.