Add as much detail as you want, depending on if you like the softer, fuzzier look on your trees or want them to be more sharp and clear; it’s your choice!
How to Paint Trees Acrylic Step by Step Art Lessons
This week I’m revisiting another of my classic acrylic painting tutorials!
This one is a little different: I’m going into more detail to give you a specific acrylic painting technique for painting trees .
You’ll be able to bring this technique into pretty much any painting you do that involves trees, so it’s a great tool to have in your toolbelt !
These may look intimidating, but I will break it down into six very easy steps and once you get the hang of it, it’ll become second NATURE to paint trees (no pun intended! ).
This is actually a fairly easy painting for beginners.
Now let’s get started!
You’ll need the following painting materials; follow the links to purchase these art supplies if needed.
Materials:
Palette knife (for mixing paints)
Jar of water (to keep brushes wet)
1” flat brush (not necessary but saves time)
Canvas (size of your choice; you can always use it to practice your tree and then paint over the tree later when you’re doing a full work)
6 Steps to Painting a Tree
As usual, we’ll start by mixing colors on our palette.
You’ll want a very dark brown (I’ll call it black from here on out since it looks black), a dark green for leaves, a medium green for lighter leaves, and a medium yellow with a hint of green in it for highlights.
To get that last color, just mix some yellow and white and then borrow a dab of green from the medium green you’ve already mixed.
Step Two
Now we’ll start our acrylic nature painting by laying down the outline of our tree’s trunk and branches .
I painted two trees here for extra practice, but you can do just one if you want to save time.
Dab your #8 flat brush in water and grab some black from your palette.
We’ll start with the trunk.
Start slender at the top with a light touch and then increase pressure as you move down the trunk to make it wider toward the bottom.
Now add branches in a random pattern up and down the trunk.
Remember that branches get slightly wider as they get closer to the trunk.
Now take your #0 detail brush, dab in water, and grab some more black.
Use the detail brush to add smaller branches, again in a random pattern to your preference.
Remember: this is just a layout and these branches will be mostly covered by leaves/needles so don’t go into too much detail!
How To Paint Trees – Learning To See
The first part of learning the process of how to paint trees is to learn how to observe them. “Don’t be stupid!” I hear you say, “I’ve been looking at trees all my life. I know what a tree looks like!”. I’m sure you have. BUT! There’s looking, and then there is really seeing. There is a big difference between knowing what a tree looks like in general, and knowing what it looks like in order to paint it.
Lets investigate the patterns that trees form. Every living thing has a design that somehow sets them apart. Within that, they are all different.
When painting trees, you have to find the pattern that sets it apart from other species. The beauty is that each individual tree is different. This is your “get out of jail free” card. You have some freedom to allow your brush (and whim) to wander a little. You have some room to move.
So, some examples.
What we need to know before taking on painting trees:
Is the tree roughly conical?
Mushroom shaped?
or….
Find the overall shape of the tree.
When you have done that, you will notice that a mushroom shaped tree will not fit the profile exactly. Why not? Is there a piece missing? Find all the large shapes that make the outline of the tree. Draw it on a scrap piece of paper. Each time you draw (or paint) something, you will almost always see something you did not see initially. Drawing forces you to really look.
When you’ve discovered the rough shape of a tree, I find it useful to start looking at the smaller shapes. The foliage for example. Does the tree have large leaves? Or small? What patterns are formed when the leaves emerge from the branches? Do they spiral around the branch? Or do they sprout apparently at random? This is important as, at some point, you will have to make a decision. Do I paint every single leaf (boring!) or, do I train my paintbrush to create the illusion of those shapes?
Then there is the trunk and branches. Are they relatively straight? Do they tend to grow upright? Or at angles? Often understanding the structure of the branches makes painting the leaves easier.
Careful observation and some experimentation with your paintbrush will often find an easy way to achieve the effect. Pounding a paintbrush on its bristles, and applying dry paint can often create the illusion of random leaves. A smaller brush on its edge can create branches very easily. I know I bang on about it – but experiment, experiment, experiment! (It’s the same as practising – but sounds more fun).
Before painting trees, really take some time to look. Often we leap into painting trees with a pile of enthusiasm, but not much idea. Developing an idea beforehand, will make the process of learning how to paint trees much more fun.
How To Paint Trees – Actually Painting Trees
You don’t have to be Einstein to see that a pine tree (Norfolk) is fundamentally different from a Boab. This stands to reason.
Unfortunately many of us have painted a majestic pine tree, only to stand back and realise that it does look more like a Boab. Why? Is it perception skills? In this case probably not. I would say it is your ability (or inability, but that sounded harsh) to use the brush. You will hear me say regularly that athletes get little of their skills from actual competition. Same here.
Drag out a blank canvas and practice making the brush create the shapes.
How To Paint Trees – A Fun Exercise:
Drag out a book (preferably with trees in it) and select one tree. Or even better – get outside and find a tree! (Those of you living in the middle of the Sahara, or Antarctic are exempt). Using one colour and one brush, reproduce it (sounds bossy, but it is just an exercise!).
Go back to your perception skills. Is the shape right? Have you reproduced the patterns and “texture” of the foliage? Does it look similar to the one you painted? If not, why not? Is it taller? Leaner? Less structured? More structured? Etc etc.
Go back to your brush. Do you know how to make it reproduce the patterns and texture of the foliage? Again, practise and the results will come.
This exercise will hone your ability to use the brush. It will help sharpen your perception skills. It will remove some of the pressure of working on an actual painting (you know that many of you get very precious) and, pushing paint around is always fun.
After this exercise you will be at least one step closer to mastery.
How To Paint Trees – Creating The Illusion of Volume:
It’s one thing to find the patterns and the shapes. It’s another thing entirely to give a tree depth and dimension.
How do we do that? The answer is, by understanding and creating highlights, shadows and variances in tone and colour.
Whenever you have a spare afternoon, grab a glass of your favourite beverage, and study a tree in the last hour or so before darkness falls.
Depending on how strong the light is, you will notice some deep shadows.
Why do they look different from the highlights? See if you can work out the transition from dark to light.
When painting, you will need these observations. You are almost rebuilding the tree.
Not only do you have to put in the darks and the highlights, you also have to put in everything in between. You have to recreate the transition while staying true to the “texture” of the foliage.
That may sound a lot easier than it actually is. It requires a lot of practise for those starting out.
These photos will show you the construction process.
I’m maintaining the texture and feel of the tree by using my brush in particular ways.
For example, I use the tip of the brush in alternating directions (cross hatch) to create the broken effect of highlights on the foliage.
Each layer of highlights is painted in a slightly different direction from the layer beneath. This creates a wonderful broken transition of colour, and gives us the illusion of volume.
In the following example, I’m doing exactly the same thing. Except this time I’m using the tip of my brush, and applying strong daubs of colour to create the illusion of individual leaves.
Lighter leaves over dark gives volume and dimension.
We could write about four hundred pages on the topic of how to paint trees. But hopefully these snippets are useful.
Stay tuned for a more in depth look at how to paint trees.
Until then, jump around like a fool and throw paint around!
Have a look at the footage below on my “default settings” for trees. These are my go-to colours to help you get paint down, fast.
This short clip shows you how versatile 3 colours can be in varying light situations, for painting trees, foliage and grass.
5. Keep working your way down, widening the shape.
As you keep “zig-zagging” your way down, make your tree form a wider shape on the bottom.
I leave a space for the trunk on the bottom too.
6. Vary the heights and shape of the trees.
If you’re painting a treeline silhouette, try varying the heights of the trees for a more natural look.
Also, you can vary the shape (thin and thick) and the amount of white space showing.
7. Use the tiny round to add more details on the top
If you “goofed” on the first step and couldn’t get the branches to be thin enough, try using a tiny detail brush to add the smaller branches on the top of the tree.
This technique is tricky at first but I mentioned earlier that you’ll need to practice it a bit with that fan brush.
To paint the bottom line, I used a larger round brush.
And that’s it! Keep practicing and you’ll be an expert at painting those “Happy Silhouette Trees”!
