I chose to paint Orchard Ponds because it brought back childhood memories. Orchards have a certain intrigue to me because I used to play in them as a kid. And this one had a swimming hole to boot!
I look for dramatic lighting to help boost the immediacy to the scene. I felt that the dark band through the center was engaging and seemed to be what drew you into the picture and want to seek out deeper areas within it.
I purposely made it wider to get across the idea of the vastness of the area, and to be able to show more of the golden fall grass to convey the lateness of the season. I used complementary colors to emphasize depth.