Road through the Trees by William Gillies (1898-1973) depicts a dirt pathway amongst a forest of tall trees. Gillies mastery of watercolour is present in this work through the loose patches of colour he applies over lighter washes of colour that had already soaked into the paper of the piece. This creates a windblown effect in the tree's foliage and captures the wildness of the forest against the stricter, darker colours of the road. The patches of blue colour even create the illusion of a clear, blue sky breaking through the tree's leaves. The pen marks that Gillies initially captured the tree's shapes with comes through the watercolour, showing Gillies's control of the paint throughout the wilder subject of the piece. 

Gillies was well known for his work in watercolour landscapes and the quickly captured lines of the trees overall shape also suggest Gillies captured the scene in Plein Air style as well. Gillies is attributed as a colourist, seen here in the ways bright groupings of colour make up the shapes of much of the different trees and provide structure to the forest. 

Sir William George Gillies RA RSA PRSW, 1898-1973

Gillies was born in Haddington, East Lothian. His training at Edinburgh College of Art between 1916 and 1922 was interrupted by two years' war service in France. He and William MacTaggart were among the artists who formed the '22 Group, exhibiting at Edinburgh's New Gallery between 1923 and 1928. Awarded a travelling scholarship, Gillies studied in Paris with André Lhote in 1923-24 before visiting Italy. In 1926 he took up a part-time position under David Alison at Edinburgh College of Art, where he became Head of Drawing and Painting in 1946. He was principal from 1960 to 1966, exerting a powerful influence on the younger generation on painters. Gillies worked in oil and watercolour, but it is as a watercolour painter of Scotland's landscape - particularly Lothian and the Borders - that he is best remembered.