THE STORY BEHIND THOMSON'S PAINTING

Tom Thomson’s bold use of color sprang from the need to create an impression of effect, rather than an objective record of appearance. The compositional simplicity of this sketch allowed Thomson to focus on the chromatic and tonal representation of a fleeting, optical effect. The scene was massed in quickly and strategically, with the overall forms of the sky and landscape put in almost as a backdrop for the finishing.

The final stage involved the escalation of luminosity and intensification of color and tone within the overall forms: one of the last touches is the fat slab of yellow directly above the hill, made just after the hill itself was reworked as more intensely purple. The use of rich slides of intensely chromatic opaque stiff paint meant that Thomson could work with control to adjust hue and without muddying his work. Final tiny strokes notch in the conifers along the hill line in the center, giving a sense of scale.