Watercolor on paper · 24 × 14 in. · Unframed
A deep red rose commands Fall in Color, its layered petals opening across a surrounding mass of autumn foliage. Dell builds the rose through rich crimson, burgundy, and pink, giving the petals weight and depth while allowing their edges to soften naturally into the watercolor.
The foliage carries the larger story of the painting. Leaves appear at different stages of seasonal change—some remaining green while others have shifted into gold, ochre, rust, and brown. Deep blues and dark washes appear unexpectedly among them, intensifying the warmth of the rose and preventing the scene from becoming a conventional autumn palette.
Dell leaves portions of the paper exposed and allows washes to dissolve beyond their boundaries. Against those loose passages, the carefully modeled rose becomes the anchor of the work. It remains vivid and full while everything surrounding it seems to be changing.
Fall in Color captures that brief collision between two seasons: the last richness of the garden surrounded by the unmistakable arrival of autumn.
Watercolor on paper · 24 × 14 in. · Unframed
A deep red rose commands Fall in Color, its layered petals opening across a surrounding mass of autumn foliage. Dell builds the rose through rich crimson, burgundy, and pink, giving the petals weight and depth while allowing their edges to soften naturally into the watercolor.
The foliage carries the larger story of the painting. Leaves appear at different stages of seasonal change—some remaining green while others have shifted into gold, ochre, rust, and brown. Deep blues and dark washes appear unexpectedly among them, intensifying the warmth of the rose and preventing the scene from becoming a conventional autumn palette.
Dell leaves portions of the paper exposed and allows washes to dissolve beyond their boundaries. Against those loose passages, the carefully modeled rose becomes the anchor of the work. It remains vivid and full while everything surrounding it seems to be changing.
Fall in Color captures that brief collision between two seasons: the last richness of the garden surrounded by the unmistakable arrival of autumn.
