This is a painting of a photograph taken at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, which is a wonderful place for a forested hike if you can cope with the idea of encountering a black bear. I tried to represent the untethered surroundings using sweeping brush strokes for the trees and forest floor. It was also useful to allow some of the burnt sienna underpainting to come through in areas of the painting particularly where I could complement bluer hues and give it an overall unfinished look; wild and untethered. Using this approach made the figures appear more vulnerable in their surroundings, almost creating the impression of Hansel and Gretel heading into the woods after being abandoned by their wicked mother. I can assure you that this was not the case in real life, and I was close behind them.