Tree Painter

Tree Vista Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:05:00 +0000

Tree Art

Early Summer

18x24 inches

oil on canvas

You can purchase my tree paintings on my web site with free shipping, or at my

Loft Studio in Gainesville, FL

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

This was a great scene to paint with several spaces between trees. Creating the distance with textural and color temperature changes was a great and fun way to create the depth I needed in this vista. Add to that the painting was 18x24 inches and I did about 90% of it on location alla prima. The bugs were biting and it was humid, but I truly enjoyed the process.

I have been a bit out of sorts with color recently, so I have gone back to my favorite single primary palette for awhile to get myself reigned in. This is a palette that I love and have used for many years when I want to make color mixing easy. It is quite versatile and will produce quite a nice range. Here it is:

Ivory Black (Daniel Greene)

Titanium White (Gamblin )

UB ( Old Holland )

Cad Red Light ( Gamblin )

Lemon Yellow ( Windsor and Newton )

Any brand will work with the above palette.

My favorites are:

Gamblin

Old Holland

Windsor and Newton

Shiva

Daniel Greene

Grumbacher Pre-Test

Utrecht

Painting limbs, twigs, and branches

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:10:00 +0000

Tree Art

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

This year in my quest toward excellence as a tree painter, I am studying limbs,twigs, and foreshortening in trees. This is an area often avoided by painters because it is really hard. I see lots of paintings of trees with limbs to the sides of the trees. I understand. It is a struggle to learn these elements of trees and to do them well. I am on that path for the year to try and figure this out.

Everything about painting trees is challenging really, from the roots to the scale as they rise up into the sky. It is like trying to paint a tall building correctly. Hopefully, my trees will get better and better as I struggle along, but painting is so hard that in a lifetime I won't figure it out. That is the good news!!

Back From a Residency

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:27:00 +0000

Cedar Trees

Bird House

Tree Art

Notes from my Tree Painting Journal

I've been painting at a four day residency at BIrd Island on Florida's Gulf Coast. There are a variety of trees on the island, but Sabal palms, Red cedars and tall Long Leaf pines are the majority. This is typical of coastal islands in North Florida.

The palms lean in the same direction, having been buffeted by the wind I imagine for many years. They, along with several of the pines and cedars are advanced in years.

The island is lush and left natural, but for the yard area around the house and the boat dock area. I managed to complete four 12x16 paintings during my stay. That is a good size for alla prima work with oils. Large enough to challenge me without being overwhelming. Since I had four days only, I wanted to spend my painting time efficiently and still get good paintings rather than slap dash studies. There will be a bit of touch up in my studio with better light, but they are just about done. I expect to spend no more than 15 minutes for touch up on each.

This was a wonderful opportunity to study Florida's trees.

More tree fun with oils

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:27:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Notes From my Tree Journal

I've been enjoying painting the fields with new color and tiny wildflowers blooming everywhere. it is the perfect time to be out studying trees. The color is that impossible shrieking green that is so beautiful on site, but so deadly for a painting. It looks fake and unnatural if you try to duplicate it. I have learned to be judicious about overdoing the intensity of color in the spring.

I like to use the following to neutralize greens:

cad orange

yellow ochre

Naples yellow

ivory black

cad red light

raw umber

red oxide

Just a touch of the above will tone it down a bit and make it more manageable. Here is to spring and green!!

A commission

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 02:27:00 +0000

Painting Commissions

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I finished this 40x60 commission this week. It was a good challenge for me because the palette is not what I usually do for tree work. The client has teal colored leather sofas and wanted the painting to be in harmony with their furniture. The challenge was coming up with the right mixtures to give it the colors that would create interest but not stray too far from the initial ideas for teal. The clouds were very important to the client as well as the teal color. They wanted a subtle, soft painting so I did not get caught up in a lot of detail in the grasses. I kept them soft and cool in temperature, using the trees for the most interest and texture. I moved the larger tree down forward into the field to create another interval and heightened its color and values slightly to create depth..

Observing Trees to Paint in Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:12:00 +0000

Landscape Art

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

This is a painting I've wanted to do for some time. It is a favorite scene for me at Fair Oaks. It was the last painting I did at my residency there last week. I am back in my own studio for a few days and leave again to go paint the trees at Wekiva State Park for a week, leaving here on Sunday.

There was more than one angle of this tree group that was nice, so I may do another one of this scene in the future. Staying at Fair Oaks made it possible for me to drive out to the scene several times to sit and look at it for a bit between painting sessions. The longer I paint, the more convinced I am that really observing a scene rather than painting it is a good marriage between studio painting and the real outdoors. I enjoy painting on site but not as much as just observing and taking my ideas back to the studio to work on larger paintings. I have painted on location for about 25 years now and have gone through many experiences, good and bad paintings and gradually have come to understand that I am simply a better studio painter. I now think of plein air as research for studio work. It is fun, but simply a means to the end in my studio.

There is so much to learn about painting trees that I expect they will keep me occupied with practice for many more years to come, both on location and in my studio.

Cusp of Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:48:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

This painting was a nice challenge. The digital image has a glare on the right half, so it looks washed out. I love painting these groupings of trees with their intertwined branches and limbs. It is always my favorite theme for paintings in between seasons. Just that week or two between the seasons is fascinating to paint. It is a reoccurring theme in my work.

Serenity Oak 3

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:39:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

It took me about a month to do this painting, working on it for a couple of hours at a time when I was at Fair Oaks on Sundays. I am here for a week, so I have been able to focus my time on painting upstairs in the studio for several hours a day. This is the third painting of this particular tree. It is a difficult tree to paint. There are many overlapping sections of the trunk and it has split into two sections as they are want to do in their great age. It is a mammoth tree. I think this is the most successful of the three paintings, though I like the other two as well.

I used the following palette for the trunks and limbs:

Raw Umber

Trans Red Iron Oxide

Ivory Black

Zinc White

Cad Orange

For the canopy and grasses:

Cad Lemon Yellow

Trans Red Iron Oxide

Cad Orange

Sap Green- I use Daniel Green Sap Green. it is unique and much cooler and deeper than other brands of Sap Green

Thalo Blue

Titanium White

The painting is 20x24 inches, oil on canvas.

Today I will start a new tree painting.

Trees at Fair Oaks

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:14:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Sample painting for commission client

10x24

oil on canvas

Field One Palms

8x10 inches

oil on canvas

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

This week I am in residence at my favorite place in the world, Fair Oaks. Being an artist in residence there means that I can come out to paint for a day most any time I like, but to live there for a week is a once a year privilege. I can't tell you how much I look forward to this week in February each year. The time flies by so fast!!

I am working on several painting projects this time, including a sample painting for a 40x60 commission that is looming ahead of me in March. The canvas should arrive from my canvas maker while I am away from the studio. I use French Canvas for all of my commission paintings. They make high quality and custom sizes for me. I brought 18x24 canvases with me for this residency and I have a tree painting in progress already that I've been plugging along on in the last few Sundays. The weather has been quite cold here, so I go out for a little ride around the fields and take reference photos of trees and then go upstairs to the studio to work on paintings, rather than be miserable in the cold.

I am trending back toward oils again after a couple of years learning to master acrylics. I will continue to use acrylics for my loft studio work, because it is a retail studio. I don't want anyone to be turned away by the oil paint smell. I love it, but there are many who have allergies to the paints. Acrylics are cleaner and easier to manage there. I have begun to do oils alla prima and on location again, but will probably continue with both mediums on location.

The trees at Fair Oaks this year are lovely and graceful in their bare winter grays and umbers. I so love the palette for winter in Florida. I like the combination of ultramarine blue, raw umber and lead white this time of year for trunks and limbs and distant atmospheric trees. I can bias it cooler or warmer as I need to. Good stuff!!

Oil Field Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:08:00 +0000

Tree Art

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

It's been about two years since I used oils on location. prior to 2011, I was mostly an oil painter. I dabbled with acrylics for about 8 years before 2011. In 2011 I decided to get serious about studying with acrylics. I put my oils away for about 18 months while I learned to paint well with acrylics. Recently, I decided to get back to oils in the painting studio. I began to miss them. After all, I have been an oil painter since the age of 12.

The re-learning curve for oils has been steep, much more difficult than I expected. I am just now beginning to get some technique back with them. Last Sunday, I packed my pochade box with oils for the first time in two years and headed out to my favorite place on earth, Fair Oaks. The above painting was the result. it still needs some tweaking and when I have time, I'll work on it a bit more. I accomplished what I needed to. It is clean, not muddy, and has decent color mixing. it gives me some self confidence that I can once again get out there with oils and get the alla prima job done. I am thinking of taking them to my next Paint Out. I'll practice with them at Fair Oaks for a week this month during my residency. I'll show you the finished painting soon.

Field Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 20:40:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I just returned from my residency at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. I saw thousands of trees out on the marshes and wetlands. One thing I do for myself is take field notes of trees that I am especially fond of, not always on location, but later on my computer. I find taking a lot of photos and writing notes on location to be pretty distracting, though it works for others. My habit is to just observe as carefully as possible with as few distractions as possible. I train myself to carefully consider the shapes, colors and textures of what I'm seeing and trying to store them away in my mind. When I get back to my office I can jot down these details while they are fresh in my memory. I will take a few photos of the most special trees I see to use later, but the field notes are very helpful.

One of the issues I most often observe are the changes over time to a region. I like to return to a location close to the same month or season each year to compare the extraordinary changes form year to year. This year all of the magnificent pines that were such a feature last year have been burned. They will leaf out again, but for now, look ghostly and sad. A completely different look to a year ago. The water was much higher in the marshes and the color was different this year. There were many waterfowl but really about half as many as I saw last year. I learned years ago that each new season presents a completely different feel and vision to a landscape. It takes many seasons to understand a place and to fit into it's rhythm.

Study the environment and you will ever be fascinated....

Trees as Subjects for Color Mixing

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Orange/blue and red/green

yellow/purple and red/green

yellow/purple and orange/blue

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I mentor a group of 10 painters. I give them weekly assignments and we have a meeting once a month to talk shop. Their latest assignment was to study various tetradic palettes. The above tree paintings are my own paintings from the assignment.

The one on top was done alla prima with oils, and the other two were with acrylics. The second painting was started on location at Fair Oaks, where I am an artist in residence.

The third painting was done on an aluminum panel. That is a bit more challenging with acrylics because the panel requires more paint layers to start before the paint begins to grip the surface well. I use a medium tinted with pigment for the first layer and the problem is that I am impatient in not leaving it alone to dry. Once I get further into the painting it is easier. I do enjoy the challenge of painting on metal now and then. It is great fun to see the little spots of sheen from the metal as you walk around the painting. Copper and tin work as well and it has become a fad with some painters to use copper, though the technique has been around for ages.

I am starting to get my technique with oils back again. I noticed with the top painting that I felt quite comfortable with the medium again. I used to be an oil painter exclusively for about 40 years before I discovered the advantages of acrylic. I studied with acrylics for 18 months exclusively and just went back to oils last summer. Now I try to do both each week to keep the skill level up.

The Loft Studio is full of tree paintings for 2013. I have moved my coastal paintings onto the stair well to give the trees their just due as the celebrities of my year. Come on up to the loft and enjoy them.

Winter Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:07:00 +0000

Tree Art

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

This one is 18x24 inches, oil on canvas. I had two goals for this painting. The first to study tree masses and second to use a variety of greens. When you paint in Florida you must practice greens constantly. Winter and summer, they are there. Sorting though masses of trees is always a challenge. I created a more interesting tree line between the masses by using subtle interval changes along the grass line. The real line of grasses were straight along in a row. I am always looking for opportunities to make the composition a little more interesting.

I was able to mix quite a few greens by using a base of Daniel Greene sap green oil, mixing into that the following in various proportions:

yellow ochre

ultramarine blue

naples yellow

cad lemon

cad yellow medium

titanium white

For the limbs I used the same magenta pink as the grasses, with sap green and ultramarine blue in various proportions. For the sky I used magenta with white and a bit of Ivory Black to make a pale warm gray. I used a palette knife for the sky. The second day I came back over the lower part of the sky with trans red iron oxide and white for the subtle hint of clouds, again with palette knife.

This is a painting of Field Three at Fair Oaks These rust and pink grasses are lovely in winter. Sometimes they are grayer, bluer or more purple but always beautiful.

Good fun in the studio with my favorite subject.

Trunk and Limbs

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 22:05:00 +0000

Tree Art

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

Today I finished the above tree trunk painting. It was painted from a reference photo of a tree near Brooker Florida and it is a Laurel Oak. I happened to spy it while checking a phone message outside of my truck.

I am really enjoying this palette. I used it for the last painting too of a Live Oak last week.It is quite versatile and gives me a full range of neutrals and allows me to pump up the color if I wish with Cad Yellow Lemon as an accent.

Good tree trunks and limbs can be quite difficult to paint because there is so much texture and foreshortening to do them properly. They are rarely symmetrical. My goal in 2013 is to intensify my tree painting study and be very serious about it. I am working out the various palettes I will be using to transition to the various seasons.

There is a new book out and I don't remember the author but he is an attorney and tree historian. The title of the book is The American Canopy, so I will be looking into that for my Kindle soon.

Live Oak Tree #16

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 23:21:00 +0000

Tree Art

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I don't usually do my larger format paintings in one day, but this one just hummed along. It basically had its own mind and led me around the canvas. I sure enjoyed doing a painting without a huge struggle to correct and fix. I enjoyed doing the long drapey limbs and I really like the palette for this painting:

Ultramarine Blue

Yellow Ochre

Cad yellow medium

Cad yellow lemon

Raw umber

Trans red iron oxide

Titanium white.

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 03:02:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Fish Prairie Trees

36x48 inches

acrylic on deep gallery wrap canvas.

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I'm about through with this beast. I have to paint the sides of the deep canvas and perhaps a tweak here and there when I see it on Wednesday again. I sure have enjoyed painting this one. I got to practice painting foreshortened limbs, always important, close intervals, and lots of close values. I hope I fixed all of the pesky tangents. Great fun!! Now I have to find help to hang a 40x60 and this one in the loft studio next week.That will be an adventure for sure.

Masses of Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Work in Progress

36x48 inches

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

This is session four on my painting of Fish Prairie. This one is in acrylics and going much faster than the 40x60 I just finished in oils. The acrylics are so versatile and allow me to go back and forth with these close value relationships, making constant adjustments. I love painting on the prairie this time of year with the multiple neutrals and the hint of color throughout from the Hickories and Swamp Maples whose leaves are still hanging on. I always love that surprise of the late turning trees when everything else is bare. It is my absolute favorite time of year to paint.

Sorting through the jungle of tree masses is challenging and wonderful. Composition and design is so important for this kind of painting. Allowing some trees to begin to emerge as dominant elements seems to be the best way for me to sort it all out.

This is a 12x16 inch painting I did last Sunday while out on the prairie. I like to spend some time painting on location before I use my reference photos to do an in studio large format painting. It helps me to get a feel for the mood and palette of the place I want to paint.

This is a palm hammock on Fish Prairie painted from a field study. It was a dark day in early summer so you can see that the undergrowth is much more lush than the winter views. I've been lucky to have access to this prairie from Fair Oaks which runs along the rim. The kind owner has mowed several trails through the prairie for access. I spend much of my winter painting time there as it allows me challenges to my composing skill and helps me to grow as a painter.

North Florida Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:27:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Notes From my Tree Painting Journal

I finally finished my huge tree painting today. There is a glare on the left side of the painting. It is so big that I am unable to get a really good photo. I will take it outside when it dries to the touch and try photographing it again. I really enjoyed doing this one but I find that having enough patience with large format oil paintings is an issue for me. I have become much more proficient with acrylics and so there is the waiting time with oils between sessions.I'm sure I could improve it with time, but I feel it has taught me what it is going to and it's time to move on to the next tree painting.

I have another large canvas, not quite so large but still big. I want to do a painting of the winter trees on Fish Prairie next. I will use acrylics this time. I already have it in my mind, so as soon as I get another rotation in the painting studio, I'll get it started and then take it to my loft studio to work on for a couple of weeks.

Painting trees is the most fun!!

40x60 Tree, Work in Progress Stage 5

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 03:59:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I'm checking in with stage 5 of the giant tree painting, 40x60 inches. It is coming along now fairly quickly. it still needs about 2 sessions I think. I'll be working on it again on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Working on a large oil painting takes a lot of time. There is a fair amount of tweaking to be done. I try to move around the painting a lot, doing small corrections as I go. Today I worked on the back atmospheric areas behind the trees, adding bits of light here and there in the grasses behind the trees. I extended the trunk of the bare tree further down in the foreground to correct the intervals between trees. I added a distant tree on the far left to balance the composition too. I'm having fun. It is quite impressive in it's large size. The photo doesn't do it justice.

Not Your Everyday Canvas

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 02:13:00 +0000

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

Sometimes it is great fun to paint trees on furniture. I have done several paintings of trees on tables and yesterday I painted this frame. I have painted this as a commission for a tree lover. I must say that it was far more difficult to do than a canvas. Because I had to think of the painting with a giant missing part and steps of uneven surfaces, it was necessary to keep the composition fairly simple and without a lot of detail. I really enjoyed the process. Trees are wonderful wherever you put them.

Two Tree Paintings

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:11:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

This is stage two of a 40x60 inch tree painting. It is a mess right now but I have high hopes that it will turn into something after a couple more sessions. It is oils.

I really enjoyed doing this alla prima painting last Sunday at Fair Oaks in Evinston,FL.

It is acrylic on deep gallery wrap canvas. I framed it with a natural floater frame with a black liner. This tree was full of character. It is quite large and very old. There are scars all over the trunk and all kinds of odd warts on the surface. It has many stories to tell me. I will take another crack at it one day with a larger canvas.

Getting Ready for my Tree Workshop I

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 23:29:00 +0000

Left Chart- Trunks and limbs

Right Chart- Canopy

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

Today I worked on some charts for my workshop on Saturday this week. One of the things we won't have time for is chart making, so I think I will want to hang these charts in the studio for my students to see how I do basic color mixes for tree paintings. I have a chart book full of charts for mixing landscape paintings but I wanted to simplify a bit, particularly on the greens. I have a seven color palette for the greens and an 8 color palette for limbs and trunks. Of course some of those trunk and limb colors will work for fall and winter trees too.

The Work Begins- Live Oak Hammock- Work in Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:08:00 +0000

Live Oak Hammock

40x60 inches

oil on deep gallery wrap canvas

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I started this painting today in my painting studio. It is a big one and I'm really enjoying it so much. I'm using oils this time, so it will work perfectly with my one day a week schedule of painting process. I am in my loft studio in Gainesville four days a week, at Fair Oaks for my residency there one day a week. I need to do chores and business stuff on one day a week, so that leaves me one good day in my painting studio in the woods. I will try to sneak out there a few extra hours but will have about 3 hours a week on this painting.

There is nothing I love more than working on a big tree painting. Live Oaks are just so grand to paint. I love the big curved limbs and the moss draped canopy. I'm suing the following palette for this painting.

French ultramarine blue

ivory black

yellow ochre

trans red iron oxide

cad lemon yellow

cad red light

thalo blue red shade

Naples yellow

cad orange

I love the way small limbs curve out below the canopy. Often cattle will chew them off but these are intact. This is the Florida I love so much. Fields of these huge trees with dead trunks here and there and sometimes tall Cabbage palms. The Florida I have roamed through most of my life.

I'll show you the stages through completion.

My Bird island Tree Painting Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 02:40:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Journal

I've been on the road for most of October, doing two paint outs. One was at Bird Island one of my two favorite painting places. It is a privately owned island that I don't often get to go to. I do have a residency scheduled there in April of 2013 for my Artist in Residence Project. When I was there a couple of weeks ago for three days, I discovered this sweet little Red Cedar Tree. The light was wonderful on it both behind and in front, so I enjoyed an hour of painting to study it. I can't remember when I have enjoyed a painting session more. I was able to get about 50 reference photos to sort through. I should be able to get some very nice paintings from the trip in studio. This little plein air painting will be a study note for me. I bought two very large canvases with tree paintings in mind for them when I get off the road for November and December.

Painting Masses of Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Blondheim) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 19:06:00 +0000

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

Though I paint a lot of single trees, I also love to paint masses of trees. More difficult to me. Massed trees behave differently. They tend to fight for space. Here in Florida I notice that there is a dark rich value to the lower areas of massed trees. The tops fight for the sun and late in the day the light bounces around the edges and the tops creating bands of ochre and orange along the tops. You have this wonderful combination of deep cool green gradually becoming very warm and light in bands across the top. In the winter months I see lots of red in the trunks as well as purple and blue.The color palette in Florida during the winter is lush and subtle. WONDERFUL!!!

I'm teaching a plein air workshop in February of 2013 during the best part of the winter tree palette season here in north Florida. HERE I have nine spaces left.