For the last few weeks this autumn the views out the windows at work have been especially beautiful. The trees have been changing and the city has this golden look. The yellow and orange trees and all of the brick row homes blend together and create great swaths of gold, yellow, and rust colors across Philadelphia. To capture this autumn spectacle I have been using the "Italian Earth" series of colors from Williamsburg Paints and lots of raw umber from Schmincke.

I got a chance to paint the view from the 13th floor of my Center City office building looking southwest over Philadelphia. The domes and steam in the distance to the left represents the Sunoco oil refinery. It looks so idyllic from this distance.

I am glad that I made the effort to bring my paints into work and use my lunch breaks to paint this scene. It has rained and been windy in the few days since I painted, and now that the trees are now mostly bare the city looks grey and cold — and that’s a subject for another painting.