How To Paint Trees With Watercolor

Painting trees with watercolor can seem difficult, especially if you don’t know where to start. Watercolor painter, Chayim Shvarzblat will help you feel more comfortable in tackling your watercolor landscape paintings. The first thing he recommends is to draw a couple of miniature pencil sketches of your theme. This way you are going to plan your composition as well as the placement of the colors, from light to dark. Consider your light source and be sure to carry it throughout your composition. Include shadows as a part of your sketch. This arrangement will become a design element of your work.

How To Paint Trees With Watercolor

“Take a close look at a tree. What color is the bark really? Probably not brown! Most likely, you will notice shades of gray, both warm and cold. Look for any twisting in the trunk or branches. Look at the leaves and how they relate to the branches. Where does the sky lookout? Draw these openings and the groups of sheets. Remember to indicate your light source,” explains the successful watercolor painter, Chayim Shvarzblat. Furthermore, he recommends considering the green of the leaves. “There are many greens that can be purchased in tubes, however, when creating my watercolor paintings, I prefer to mix mine. For the lighter shades of green, Viridian is a good base as it is a transparent color. Can be individually mixed with Aureolin Yellow, Cadmium Red, or Rose Madder Genuine,” says Shvarzblat, “Experiment with these one at a time to see what results in appeal to you. Just use two colors in each mix. For deeper greens, start with Winsor Green, which is also a transparent shade, but is also a staining color.” The painter explains that this means that it will not fully rise if you want to make corrections later. Moreover, Shvarzblat suggests adding Cadmium Red to Winsor Green for an even deeper color. “Combining Winsor Green and Alizarin Crimson you get a rich and deep color, but since they are both staining pigments, be careful when painting with this mix as well,” says Shvarzblat, who has been experimenting with these colors, over the course of his painting career. The well-known painter indicates that there are fresh greens and warm greens. The ratio of heat and cold in your mixes is important and allows you to experiment with various combinations. “Put the hottest mixes in the foreground and the coldest greens in the distance. If your painting has more than one tree, paint the ones in the distance with less pigment and more water. This will help achieve a feeling of depth,” says the talented watercolor painter. Moreover, Shvarzblat suggests saving your brightest greens for your focal point and making everything else related to this area accordingly. This is where your strongest contrast value can be placed as well. He also points out to keep in mind that anything white in your painting will attract the viewer’s attention first. “Practice mixing transparent greens and enjoy experimenting as you venture to paint trees,” says Shvarzblat. For more tips on watercolor painting, contact the skilled artist, Chayim Shvarzblat.