Some Tree Work

Shepherd

20x24

oil on canvas

Field Three

20x24

oil on canvas

Spring Light

En Plein Air

8x10 inches

oil on linen

 

Notes From My Tree Journal

 

As you can see here, I have been doing a lot of tree work this year. I have been focused on Live Oaks for a couple of months now. Last year I did a lot of pines. I rotate through the trees I like a lot. I'd like to work on some Sycamore trees this year, as they are so pretty. I have also been painting some cabbage palms again after taking time away from them last year. I think I improve my painting skills by sort of taking breaks from a kind of tree for awhile and then rotating them back into my portfolio again. Trees are very difficult to paint well and there seems to be a lot of painters who treat them generically, as if they are all the same. Serious tree painters know that they have to be painted with thought and care and with knowledge, so study is all important to me. I want to master the art of tree painting someday, so I must continue to work hard.