From the Painting Guide: This painting has a feeling of unreality to it, which comes from the deeply saturated colours. It's the same feel one gets from the covers of fantasy novels – though then there'd be a unicorn cantering out from the distant shadows. In the film of The Lord of the Rings the green in the scenes showing the hobbits' village was saturated during editing to create a special feeling to the place; it looks like it could be somewhere on Earth, and we know it must be, yet the colours make it feel like it couldn't be.

The strong complementary contrasts (the reds in the trees on the edges to the central green; the yellows at the top to the bluey violets at the bottom), have emphasised the tunnelling effect within the treelined road.