Why Can't I Paint Trees?
Springtime Birches - Acrylic Watercolour
This is a question I have frequently heard and the answer isn't as simple as it might appear at first sight.
The problem which beginner painters, in particular, experience is due to the carry over of the childhood concept of ‘tree’. Children see trees as a stick with a green blob of foliage at the top, a kind of green lollipop. For a child that symbol is sufficient to represent all of the trees on the planet, whatever the species or size of tree they wish to represent. A tree is a tree and it’s as simple as that.
This over simplification of tree may suffice during early childhood but when an artist starts to take things a bit more seriously it is obviously totally inadequate.
There are millions upon millions of trees in the world and no two are alike. So can there be a ‘way to paint or draw trees’?
No! Of course there can’t be a single simple way to paint trees. At best there can only be a series of techniques which, when employed together, allow symbols which represent a tree, or trees, to be created.
It is necessary for the beginner landscape artist to go out with a sketchbook and to look at trees in detail. Notice how the trunks vary, not only in shape and size but also in texture. Notice the canopy and the way the sky shows through the holes in the foliage.
If you are painting using transparent watercolour the sky holes will have to be left as light coloured paper. Possibly the use of a masking fluid would be appropriate here. If you paint with one of the opaque media, such as oils or acrylics, then the sky holes can be painted in later using a lighter colour.
Study the variation of colour and texture in the canopy. Pay particular attention to different trees standing alongside each other and the ways in which they differ. Look at the ways in which they might be similar.
Notice the trees in the background and how they appear different from those in the foreground even though they may be of the same species. Notice how the foliage of the more distant trees can appear to be bluer the further into the background they go. Notice how detail is lost in the trees that are furthest away.
Following all this observation, note taking and sketching comes the hard work of painting what you see, experimenting with different brushes to see what kind of marks can be made with them. Small pieces of sponge can be used to dab in sections of foliage.
If something you try works make a note of it and incorporate that technique into your repertoire of painting methods. If what you try doesn’t work then drop that and try something else. Constant experimenting with techniques and colour will lead eventually to ways of working which will produce symbols which convey the impression of trees convincingly.
Remember that when we paint a tree we are not creating a tree, merely a symbol to represent the concept of that particular tree. There are millions of trees and therefore there must be millions of symbols, all different, to represent those trees in our artworks.
Enjoy those differences.
Tomorrow I shall be talking about 'Style'.
Until then take care!
Tony
The problem which beginner painters, in particular, experience is due to the carry over of the childhood concept of ‘tree’. Children see trees as a stick with a green blob of foliage at the top, a kind of green lollipop. For a child that symbol is sufficient to represent all of the trees on the planet, whatever the species or size of tree they wish to represent. A tree is a tree and it’s as simple as that.
This over simplification of tree may suffice during early childhood but when an artist starts to take things a bit more seriously it is obviously totally inadequate.
There are millions upon millions of trees in the world and no two are alike. So can there be a ‘way to paint or draw trees’?
No! Of course there can’t be a single simple way to paint trees. At best there can only be a series of techniques which, when employed together, allow symbols which represent a tree, or trees, to be created.
It is necessary for the beginner landscape artist to go out with a sketchbook and to look at trees in detail. Notice how the trunks vary, not only in shape and size but also in texture. Notice the canopy and the way the sky shows through the holes in the foliage.
If you are painting using transparent watercolour the sky holes will have to be left as light coloured paper. Possibly the use of a masking fluid would be appropriate here. If you paint with one of the opaque media, such as oils or acrylics, then the sky holes can be painted in later using a lighter colour.
Study the variation of colour and texture in the canopy. Pay particular attention to different trees standing alongside each other and the ways in which they differ. Look at the ways in which they might be similar.
Notice the trees in the background and how they appear different from those in the foreground even though they may be of the same species. Notice how the foliage of the more distant trees can appear to be bluer the further into the background they go. Notice how detail is lost in the trees that are furthest away.
Following all this observation, note taking and sketching comes the hard work of painting what you see, experimenting with different brushes to see what kind of marks can be made with them. Small pieces of sponge can be used to dab in sections of foliage.
If something you try works make a note of it and incorporate that technique into your repertoire of painting methods. If what you try doesn’t work then drop that and try something else. Constant experimenting with techniques and colour will lead eventually to ways of working which will produce symbols which convey the impression of trees convincingly.
Remember that when we paint a tree we are not creating a tree, merely a symbol to represent the concept of that particular tree. There are millions of trees and therefore there must be millions of symbols, all different, to represent those trees in our artworks.
Enjoy those differences.
Tomorrow I shall be talking about 'Style'.
Until then take care!
Tony
posted by Tony Attwood at 10:37 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home