Frank Ritchie constructs his landscapes with dots, which imitate leaves and falling snow. His technique has less to do with pointillism than with the sheer joy of engaging in the process and satisfying his compulsion; he was diagnosed as being paranoid schizophrenic. Ritchie began by painting the sky and then he laid the ground. Next, he let his hand “droop” over the canvas board. His index finger soon got hot, as if warmed by a candle. And at that point he planted a tree trunk. It is unclear whether his finger radiated heat or if flash points struck from the picture plane. But this process accounts for his compositions.