A rotation of tree studies

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I have been doing ten 8x10 studies of various subjects for the Daily Paintworks web site. I'm in the middle of a 10 day study of trees. I could paint trees for a hundred years and still be completely intrigued by them.  These studies keep me in study mode, which is the best place to be for a painter in my opinion. There are too many advanced painters who stop studying painting when they become established. I will always be a student of painting and these tree studies help me to advance my skill level. 

Live Oak 3 Study

8x10 inches

Acrylic on canvas panel

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.

Painting from My Recent Experience

Tree Paintings

Notes From my Tree Journal

A couple of weeks ago I observed the beautiful site of a dark indigo sky with powerful light in the tree tops. Based on that memory I did this painting yesterday. For some reason my camera does a lousy image of these strong transitional color paintings. The actual painting has a richer color. In order to get the field and lower tree color to work in photo shop, it shows the top as bleached out. To see the real thing, stop by my loft and enjoy browsing with a fresh cup of coffee.

Painting from memory becomes easier when you have painted in the field for a long time. You tend to remember and to know how nature works when you spend a lot of time out in it.