Vertical Lines

Parkway Series #82    11 x 14   oil    $85.

If lines dominate a painting, I would rather have diagonal or vertical lines than horizontal.  Vertical lines have a more majestic feel.  They point to the heavenlies; they have a reverence about them; they form a path for more eye movement.  Shape, however, is necessary for contrast.  The dark shape of the background trees to the right and the smaller shapes of leaves keep the eye from traveling off the top of the painting and force  attention back to the diagonal shadows on the ground.  The diagonal shadows were actually the element that attracted my attention in the first place.