The last healthy horse chestnut leaf? by Jacki Stokes

I love your study of the leaf and all the others are sooooooooooooooo well done:)Linda

Lovely colours and the delicate shadows. What a super gallery. Unfortunately I think it'll get harder and harder to find a healthy leaf in autumn. Here near Paris they've all been "sucked dry" by the end of August.....! And it's the same every year.

well done, a lovely painting. I always think it is good to study your subject up close. It is well executed and a good range of colour blending achieved.

The subtle changes of color are lovely. Great study.

It's an excellent painting. On the question - there is a disease of horse chestnut which doesn't seem to affect the tree overmuch, but is affecting the leaves; suspect a succession of warm, wet winters haven't helped. It's a shame, because the autumn shades of chestnut can be beautiful, as your painting shows. One for Gardeners' Question Time!

I Like this - Great composition for a single item.

I Like this - Great composition for a single item.

Very nicely painted, lovely blending of colour.

Thank you so much to everybody for your really encouraging comments! I'm so pleased. I didn't think anyone would notice this little offering in amongst the incredible talent on show in the gallery. I always try to paint wet into wet, running in thicker and thicker paint as the wash dries: that's how I get that blending of colour. I love the effects you get by doing this. I'll put in some detail at the end when the initial wash is dry, but I do try to keep that sort of work to a minimum as I'm not that keen on too many hard edges and I also think it can take away the spontaneity if overdone. I'm so pleased people like this and thank you so much for taking the trouble to comment. It's made my day!