Around this time last year, I announced that this was going to be my Year of Trees. I had been actively avoiding painting trees because they're hard and I would get discouraged. My announcement was supposed to help keep me accountable so that I would face my fears and practice painting trees. As I review now, I see I have indeed painted some trees. But they're primarily all without foliage ... ugh. The foliage! Bane of my existence ... 

 

[Side note: I don't feel so bad avoiding trees, because when I took a workshop with Famous Artist before the pandemic, this other lady and I were eagerly waiting for him to paint his fabulous trees so we could see how he does it. And we kept waiting ... and waiting ... Finally on the last day, he painted a few spindly trees, and that lady leaned over to me and commented, "I guess he really does not want to paint trees!" So I take consolation in knowing it's not just me.]

 

Anyway, I thought I would share the process of one of my most recent foliage-less trees. Is it a masterpiece? No. But it's where I'm at so far -- which is better than I used to be -- and incorporates some of what I've learned that works for me when painting (foliage-less) trees. I actually remembered to photograph AND record the process, too, so I've added a process video with my mumbling voiceover at the bottom of this post. Hope you find it helpful. 

 

1. Sketching in the composition. 

 

 

2. Blocking in the masses.

 

 

3. Adding some sky.

 

 

4. Adding big branches.

 

 

5. Refining details.

 

 

6. Adding snow and the river.

 

 

And then I tweaked it a bit after sitting with it for a few days at home.

 

The picture below will take you to a video of the process -- with commentary! Please pardon the rudimentary footage. But it should give you the general idea. Thanks for watching!