Oh Trees! A Quick Afternoon Tree Workshop

Green Trees & Grey Skies

Artists at work, painting trees! (Impressionistic image).

 I've been plein air painting once a week for most of the spring and summer. And, none of that plein air painting has been instructor led. While it is wonderful and meditative to get out and paint on my own, I do believe that artists should search for new ideas and seek instruction. This particular afternoon workshop was appealing because it was "how to paint trees"--ok I think I need to learn that!

When a friend mentioned that she thought she could get an artist to teach a plein air "how to paint trees" workshop, I said, "Sign me up." As an artist, you have to be open to new opportunities! For example today at the painting tree workshop there were several of us who consider ourselves newer to plein air, some total newbies and some experienced painters. It was an amalgam of painting knowledge and yet I believe that we all enjoyed the workshop. I loved the demo. The demo was painted with a size 12 brush which seemed so large to me, but which worked so well for the Instructor. I love seeing how others approach a painting, what colors they use and how they use their brushes. The Instructor made it look so very easy, I loved his trees but mine were not as successful as his.

The newer artists were really interested in color mixing. I was interested in sky-holes and edges. The more experienced artists were interested in color palette --especially the instructor's use of Portland grey which he used in his sky and to create his dark greens (Portland grey with Ultramarine Blue and Yellow Ocher).

My painting, it looks a little dark here, it was a grey day!

Tree Notes:

• Know the trees you are painting, it helps to know the features (I need to learn the trees here).
• No symmetry, nothing parallel to the frame
• Establish big shapes, then darks and shadows. 
• Think of a jigsaw puzzle, simplified.
• After block in, refine shapes saving details and keyholes for last. 
• Define a few strokes at a time, cutting into the sky . For sky-holes be selective, use a clean brush and paint should be toothpaste thick.
• Painting is a series of corrections.