Trees "101"

Tree Portrait, 10 x 12

In one of my recent classes, we focused on painting trees, and the exercise for the day was to paint just one tree.  With trees, whether working from a photo or from life, it's the artist's job to reshape the tree into a pleasing piece of artwork, not simply copy the shape you see before you.  We worked on blocking in a large, simplified shape that we placed into the composition keeping in mind the rule of thirds for a good center of interest, and making sure no key elements divided the composition in half. From there, the trick is to divide up the large shape into the smaller elements of the tree, making sure to vary each shape and negative space (the negative space being the sky holes).  With the leaves coming back on the trees this time of year, it's a great time to get out and observe firsthand!