It's been a wonderful autumn here in Michigan. The colors have been magnificent and seem to have been brighter than usual. We're past peak now, but I spent a lot of time on my rear deck which faces nearly 5,000 acres of mixed hardwoods and conifers. I studied how the sunlit bright yellow and orange leaves contrasted with dark backgrounds and tree trunks and grappled with how I could paint them in watercolor. I decided that the only way to get the brightness would be to preserve the white of the paper with masking fluid, then paint the muted, dark washes and the tree trunks. When I was satisfied with the darks, I removed the masking and began painting the leaves using the cad yellow, gamboge, and transparent red iron oxide in varying strengths. I used some white gouache sparingly for a few highlights. The reference photo was taken past peak, but provided the inspiration.