In with the Trunks and Branches

Now for some more tree elements-trunks and branches. Conifer tree trunks are reddish/brown in color with a broken surface. I want to be honest with what I paint so I always have a good look at the nature of things. In life I will walk up to elements whenever possible examine them for color and texture and run my hand over them to get an indelible read-so the information stays with me forever. When I need to paint that element I have a rich recall to base my actions on. So if my painting look real its because I do my homework and minimize the guessing part. Because I am featuring a tree trunk in the foreground I need to have this information.

I use the pastry brush to drag down a red from light red and a bit of blue then go to work breaking up the surface with a sloppy dark on the liner brush. The darkest side of the trunk will be the shadow side so its important to decide where the light is coming from. I make it enter from the right. I hope that fits with the cowboys I'm going to put in later!

Over the top of that I add broken strokes of light blue-the blue in the sky. This ties this element into the rest of the colors I have used in the landscape and is a color that legitimately occurs on the trunk as its both a surface that itself will have deposits of snow here and there as well as reflect the colors around it.

For the brances I use the liner brush and mix a light grey from the red/ blue and white. I use a blue to break up the foregrond in preparation for other work later. But all in all its starting to develop a nice look with some elements in there that make sense and build a realistic scene.

Tomorrow will build more on this strong start. If there is anything I have skipped that you want to know about ask me!

In with the Trees

Ok, so now the paint is dry lets get on with the trees. These are conifer trees and are adapted to snow conditions so their branches are generally downward sloping to facilitate the snow sliding off them. Some of the branches are pointed upward towards the sun but as they lengethen they droop especially when the snow burdens them. The first trees I'll put in are the distant ones. Because they are further away they are more blue- see as things recede the warm colors -yellow and red-diminish until a faint blue occupies the feature. Here I mix the alizarin red with the ultra blue and a spot of white and use the pastry brush.

The closer trees have more mass and color. I use a yellow ochre with the ultra blue on top of a deeper color from burnt sienna and ultra blue. The scraggly bit of foliage to the right is in preparation for the trunk. Now I ask you ....can you see the distance operating on color, tone and detail! Of course you can. That folks is the simple concept of aerial perspective at work. Easy aint it!