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Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I've had a few days to paint trees this week. This painting was done with a cooler palette. I've been playing around with my winter palette, but I wanted to do this painting from a summer reference photo I took back in June.

Soon the fields and trees will take on the colorful dresses of Fall. 

I don't have the winter palette tweaked quite right. I always start a seasonal change in my palette early, so that by the time the season has changed, I am ready and comfortable with it.

Field One Trees

Tree Paintings

 

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

 

 

I have painted this tree group several times. It is so unusual in shape that I have to keep painting it from various angles and in different seasons. I did this painting a week ago, here in August. There are still a few purply weed flowers scattered round the fields this late in the summer. I believe the trees have been trimmed some to make this opening better for the palm, but perhaps not. Trees do grow in unusual configurations. It is hot and heavy with humidity and frequent rain this year, so not at all comfortable this time of year for painting. I have gotten into the habit this month of driving around the fields in a golf cart with my Ipad to take reference photos and then going upstairs to the studio to paint. I will get back to painting on location in mid September. it will still be hot, but some drier by then with less humidity, if we are lucky.

 

 

This painting is 16x20 inches, oil on canvas. I used the following palette:

 

UB

Titanium White

Ivory Black

Cad Yellow Medium

Thalo Red Shade Blue

Yellow Ochre

Red Iron Oxide

 

Summer was fun but I am so ready for my wonderful fall weather.

 

 



 

Field One Summer II

Landscape Art

 

 

Notes From My Painting Journal

 

 

I've been quite busy painting fields this summer, a slight departure from my focus on trees, but of course, the trees are part of the scenery always here in North Florida.  Painting the fields helps me to practice brushwork and challenges me to not become too obsessed on my dear trees. The fields also challenge me to a better understanding of mixing greens, so very important to a Florida painter because we have endless greens, warm and cool and every temperature in between. The fields are full of green in the summer and the subtleties abound. Every texture comes to life in the fields and trees, so my brushwork skills improve as well. Oh how I love the landscape here in Florida!!



 

Repairing a cracked tree trunk

Tree Art

A Reader's Question

From time to time a tree blog reader sends me a question about care for trees. I always ask my arborist friends for their advice. The question was how to repair a damaged tree trunk that has split. This is from Meg:

Using a rope, pull the tree up to where the wound has closed. Drill a small hole through the tree and slide a bolt through it. Put some FLAT washers on each end of the bolt and lightly tighten the nut up. Using a very sharp knife, trace around the washer, through the sap wood. Loosen up the nut and remove the bark under the washers. Then tighten the nut back up. You'll need to provide some support to the tree for a couple of years. Put 3 stakes around the tree and attach some twine to the tree, using some tubing or old cut sections of a garden hose to run the twine through, around the tree.

Mowing Season

Tree Art

18x24 inches

oil on canvas

wood frame with copper trim

Available in my Loft Studio

4122 NW 16th BLVD

Gainesville, FL (next to Fresh Market)

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I caught this scene by accident with my I-Pad camera a couple of weeks ago. The tractor was just in the right place and the light framed the scene.I loved the dark tree on the right and the multiple textures throughout the scene. The trees were left simple and the emphasis on the tractor and strong light in that area. it was a complex and fun painting to do. The color is fairly rich in this painting compared to some palettes I use. I wanted to emphasize the rich greens of full on summer in Florida. I am quite fond of portals in my work and this scene was the perfect opportunity to use a strong portal in my composition. The trees set the scene.

Tree Vista Painting

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

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!!