Stormy Saturation

This photo hasn't been saturated; it's simply the effect of the last lingering brightness catching the leaves against the stormy sky, before the rain hits. I love the strong contrasts of colour that such weather brings.

I first noticed it by accident. On my 12th birthday I was given a boxed set of Windsor and Newton poster paints - lovely bright colours in little screw-top glass jars. Unimaginatively, I painted a red brick house, a royal blue sky that sat behind the house all the way down to reach the emerald green grass surrounding the house. When I'd finished I noticed that the scene looked as if it was about to rain very heavily. The effect was accidental, but it taught me something about the effect of strong, complementary colours side by side. Delicious! Mmm. I can still smell those paints ...