Lots of tree studies

Live Oak Study

8x10 inches

Acrylic on panel

I have been doing a lot of tree studies over the last month, getting my acrylic skills back and having a lot of fun with the process of painting. Sometimes doing multiple studies allows me to just free up and not worry about good or bad. I am switching between oils and acrylics regularly, to keep both skill sets up to par. 

I'm in Crystal River this week, using oils to paint the wild red cedars and cabbage palms. Great practice!

Tree painting from my residency

Trees in Holy Ground Field

20x24 inches

Oil on canvas

www.lindablondheim.com

Notes From My Tree Residency

This was the last painting I completed at my residency at Fair Oaks in February. I've always been fond of this scene. There is a lot of standing water under these trees from the recent rains. Most of the time it is dry. This stand of trees is a favorite hideaway for the resident deer. I see them early in the morning and late in the afternoon before dusk when they like to feed. 

I started this painting on location and finished it in the upstairs studio on the last day of my residency. Though I paint at Fair Oaks almost every Sunday, it is quite special to spend a whole week there every February. 

Tree Workshop,tree studies

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Journal

I've been quite busy getting my materials ready for my Tree Workshop in November. The workshop is full but I'm starting a list for a second group for another workshop.  We will be focusing on Pines/Live Oaks/Bald Cypress/Palms for this workshop. They are all indigenous to this part of Florida and I love to paint them. I've been doing a lot of miniature tree studies this month. This is how I teach myself to paint. I do hundreds of these studies on various subjects year round. Here is a sample:

I made myself a template out of index paper. I buy the pads of canvas paper and tear off the binding. I cut the sheets into 8.5x11 and run them through my printer to copy the template onto the sheets. I do the sheet in one piece and then cut the paintings out using the guidelines. You could use oils, but for these I use acrylics. Here is a tip. Use glazing medium with a pale color tint to cover the sheet before you paint. The canvas paper will take the paint much easier when you are ready to paint. I like to use toned canvas. You can use any color your prefer. I usually use cad red light. 

Live Oak on Fair Oaks Pond

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Journal

This pond has been dry for about two years. It finally filled again after tropical storm Debbie arrived in June. I have painted this tree many times and am very fond of it. It is quite large and has a wonderful leaning shape, making it very interesting as a subject for painting. We are in the dog days of summer now and I have just returned from a week long residency on the Nature Coast of Florida. In a couple of weeks I will have time to do another tree painting. It has been a busier summer than I expected and the time is slipping by. I want to do a tree painting on a wooden table or bench soon and will show that to you shortly. 

Pines at Merritt Island Wildlife Preserve

Tree Paintings

Notes From my Tree Journal

This was a wonderful part of the wildlife preserve, right off the paved road. I was there around 9:30 AM when the light was in transition across the field of pines. I really love pine hammocks. I used a birch panel for this painting and it really gives me a different surface than the stretched canvas.The paint has a flatter quality and is harder to soften. It also has a much more atmospheric quality on this surface. The paint stroke is more separated if that makes sense, giving a more deliberate stroke, les blended than painting on canvas. It's fun to experiment with different support surfaces.

Red Cedar at Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Journal

I got the time to finish this painting today in the studio. These Red Cedars were especially lovely at Merritt Island Wildlife Preserve. Because of the harsh climate, many of them are missing large parts of their canopy, exposing the beautiful trunks and limbs. They have much more character than the cedars that grow in my neighborhood. They have a wild and interesting growth. Lots of them have broken off limbs. I suppose they are whipped around a lot during coastal storms. They look quite old.

I used the following palette for the painting:

cadmium red light

cadmium orange

yellow ochre

lemon yellow

ultramarine blue

thalo blue

titanium white

mars black

The Senator

I was heartbroken to hear that the Senator has burned and collapsed in Longwood Florida.

I got the information below from Atlas Obscura

Thought to be the eighth oldest tree in the world, the Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) affectionately known as the “Senator,” stands in a small park located in Longwood, FL.
Its estimated age of 3,500 years makes it only slightly younger than the carefully guarded Great Basin Bristlecone Pine of California known as Methuselah. To get a good sense of how old this tree really is, one must keep in mind the “Senator” was alive not only during the time of Jesus, but for 1500 years before that when the Greeks destroyed Troy, the Olmecs were powerful in Mexico, Solomon succeeded King David, and Stonehenge was being constructed. Unlike the secret location of the ancient pine, this cypress is very accessible to the public.
The “Senator” is the largest tree east of the Mississippi and currently stands at 118 feet tall with a circumference of 35 feet. A hurricane in 1925 damaged the top of the tree, shortening it from its original height of 165 feet.

The tremendous size of the tree made it useful to both Indians and early settlers as a marker when traveling through the area. Tourists have frequented the area to view the tree since the 1800’s and the land on which it resides was donated to Seminole County by the late Senator M.O. Overstreet to ensure the preservation of the tree. It was in memory of Senator Overstreet that the cypress received its present name. Following the donation in 1927, a ceremony hosted by President Calvin Coolidge, officially opened the property to the public in 1929.
Surrounded today by the Spring Hammock Preserve, the “Senator” shares space with a companion tree known as “Lady Liberty.” This companion Bald Cypress is a comparatively youthful 2,000 years old and stands 89 feet in height with a circumference of 32 feet.

Working on a tough tree painting

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

Right now I'm working on a tough little 9x12 painting of trees at the river. It is giving me a world of trouble. Who knows why? Now and then I work on one that I can't seem to do anything with. It's like being a beginner again. I'm having some issues with color temperature and values on it. I left it on the easel at my loft studio. I'll be painting in New Smyrna Beach for a week, leaving on Monday for my first

Artists in Residence Project for 2012. I imagine some time away from the painting will improve my chances to improve it and finally overcome the challenge. Stepping away from a difficult painting can often solve the problem.

I'll have lots to share when I return so don't give up on me.

My Winter Yard

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Journal

This is a favorite scene for me. It is the field next to my yard. We leave it unmowed because I love the natural Florida look to it. There are huge pines and  a few Dogwood and Hickory there, as well as Oak Trees. It is winter when I love it the most. In summer it is just green everywhere, but the Florida winter is just superb with smoky blues, mauves, oranges and ochres. The evergreens tend to look more gray green in winter too. I have learned that I am a winter palette painter at heart and I struggle in summer to make sense of the landscape.

The Work in Progress

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Journal

I have made some progress on this 18x24 painting this week.  I expect to finish it tomorrow unless the Loft Studio has a lot of visitors. I have two painting studios, one in the city called the Loft where visitors can come anytime. My other painting studio is in a no frills concrete block building behind my home in rural north Florida, about 17 miles from the city.

I really like this tree and this will not be the last painting I do of it. I would like to do a large format painting, about 30x40 or 40x48. That would be a wonderful process. I will learn this tree with this painting and then give it another shot in a large format , perhaps next summer when I have lots of quiet studio time. 

I find that I often want to do multiples of a single subject in various sizes and shapes, in order to really understand it.