Tree Portraits

Tree Paintings

Notes From My Tree Journal

Painting Tree Portraits

Most landscape painters paint trees en mass in a scene.  Doing a portrait of a tree means making the tree a star in the landscape. I love to paint portraits of special trees.

How do you give them the attention and respect that they deserve?  How do you place them in the composition to show them off to advantage?  What do you do with the other elements and trees in the scene?

I like to put them in a sweet spot of a composition. I will make sure that particular tree is featured.  I will push back other tree masses and make them less important in detail and color, graying down the color significantly so that my star tree stands out.  If it is a close up portrait of a single tree, I will place the tree slightly off center, so that it is slightly uneven in balance. I also like to pull tree trunks off the edge of the picture plane to create depth and drama.

I will intensify the contrast in the star, as well as the intensity of color detail, texture of the bark and so forth, in order to direct the viewer’s eye to my  "star" tree.

I will minimize the rest of the scene so as not to compete with my tree of interest.

Tree Trunks

Tree Paintings

Why Do People Paint Tree Trunks?

A reader asked this question. Here is what my research revealed: From E-How.com

If you have ever noticed a beautiful tree with a painted white trunk and wondered why someone would go through the trouble; there may be a good reason. The white painted bottom is rarely a decorative statement or an attempt to make the tree more aesthetically pleasing. It is, however, a practice that can potentially save the life of the tree. Trees can benefit from a coating of white paint when recent landscaping has entailed the removal of a larger tree that once provided shade for another, or the excessive removal of branches has left a tree barren and its trunk exposed to the sun's rays

Sunscald

1. The bark of trees is just as susceptible to sun damage as is human skin. Too much hot sun directed onto a tree trunk day after day may not leave behind a sun burn but it will cause damage to the bark that will become noticeable over time. Arborist Mario Vaden explains that sunscald is denoted by bark that cracks and falls off, or simply changes color. Wrapping the tree with a specially designed trunk cover or painting the tree trunk can prevent sun damage.

   Bores

2. A tree borer is an insect that tunnels underneath the bark of a tree and cause severe damage to the underlying layers of the tree. Adult tree boring insects will even lay eggs under the bark; leaving larva to chomp away at the phloem (nutrient-transporting layer) of the tree. According to the University of California, a large infestation of tree borers feeding on a single tree can result in damage that can only be rectified by heavy pruning or removal of the tree. Tree boring insects often seek out trees with the weakest outer protection, so painting trees that are susceptible to sunscald can prevent bark damage and keep tree borers at bay.

   Splitting

3. According to the University of Missouri Extension, white latex paint can also be used to prevent the bark of a tree from splitting and cracking off. This can happen when the tree is exposed to freezing evening temperatures followed by a daytime thawing. The painted white trunk will help reflect sunlight during the daytime hours and keep the tree warmer at night.

   Animal Damage

4. Painting the trunks of trees is also helpful in deterring furry, four-legged vermin. There are some wild animals that feast on tree bark, causing severe damage to the trees that become their daily lunch. According to the University of Vermont, adding a small amount of rabbit repellent to the white paint can prevent hungry rabbits from gnawing on tree bark.

   Misconceptions

5. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to use white paint to protect a tree trunk. In fact, Ed Laivo from the Dave Wilson Nursery reveals that any light-color paint can be used. What is important, though, is the type of paint used. Latex based paint that is used to paint the interior of your home is sufficient, but if you want to be "green" use paint that has an organic base. Never use an exterior paint because it contains fungicides that can harm the tree.

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.

Formulas

Tree Paintings

Notes From my Tree Journal

One of the problems with rules is that conditions can change very quickly. Nothing is set in stone when it comes to nature. The minute you have a painting formula or rule set in your mind, it is instantly broken.  When I first started to study the Notan concept in design, all of my paintings looked obvious and formulaic. I was trying so hard to study the rules that my paintings became predictable. It wasn't until about a year later that I actually began to use Notan as part of my tool box successfully, in a more natural way. I hear and read all kinds of rules for painting from others, like never using black, etc. but I usually ignore these. I've never been a rule follower. Part of observing nature has taught me that nothing you think is set in stone will ever stay that way.

Observation Day

Tree Paintings

Notes From my Field Journal

Today I spent the entire day out in natural Florida observing the landscape and trees. I learned some things about the land and trees I didn't know. That is the greatest thing about being a painter. We have so many opportunities to see special places that others don't ever get to see. Florida is not just the land of palm trees and beaches in bright happy colors. There is an ancient dark quality to it that few know. I bounced along in Hutch's truck with Mary Jane through the high Dogweed looking at trees hundreds of years old. This was the land of Mastodons long ago, and explorers still find their teeth occasionally. We saw tall cypress and pines with eagles nests high in the branches, and ancient Live Oaks with long twisted branches reaching low to the ground.We learned from our guide that the Live Oaks are almost always rimming the wet prairie edges and that cypress trees sprout on dry land before they can live in wetlands. I never knew this. Something to add to my tree journal.

After a good BBQ lunch at Pearl Country Store, we headed over to my favorite painting spot, Fair Oaks, which is 160 acres of  prime land in north central Florida. We took about a million reference photos before simply sitting and observing gathering storm clouds and the look of the rain on the canopies of trees, which began to sparkle like they had been glittered. There is no place that has light like Fair Oaks. It is the best place for light.

A lot of location painters don't understand that it is the time spent in the field without the paints that really teaches you about painting. That time of sitting and watching is invaluable. My journal is my best resource in painting trees.

A Work on the Easel/Tree Canopies

Back Field Trees

Sold

Notes From my Tree Journal

I'm finally getting some time back in the studio to paint what I want to. I started the composition today on a Live Oak painting. I'm going to try and recreate the lighting conditions I saw the other night, with the very dark sky and brilliant light on the tops of trees. I have toned the canvas with a dark blue black wash to start.

A word about painting tree canopies:

Every painter has a different approach to painting trees. Some painters tend to be literal about stems and leaves and linear in their approach to painting trees. I am more of a mass oriented painter. I tend to see shapes and value masses when I paint. I guess you could say I use a paint by number approach.  I like to plug in value and color shapes around the tree, working all around the painting. Gradually, I begin to tighten up some areas with more texture and color, and then push atmospheric areas further back. Atmosphere and light are the main focus in a lot of my work. So as the tree is placed in the picture plane, it will get more or less attention and focus in terms of texture, shape and color intensity.

 One of the problems I see for beginning painters is a poor value structure in the tree canopy. Too much information, using texture and leaf shapes to try and construct the canopy, rather than thinking about value masses. This looks cartoonish at times, as if leaf shapes were glued onto the painting. My experience over the last few years has made me aware that massing and using values thoughtfully really pays off. Y'see our eyes don't see the way a camera focuses. We can focus on any given tree, but the others around it will lose definition due to our lack of ability to focus on everything, the way a camera will. We see in planes and I like to think of my painting surface in three basic planes, fore/middle/back grounds. Wherever the trees are placed in those planes will effect how much detail we should put on any particular tree.

People Love Trees

Fair Oak

Notes From My Tree Journal

Last weekend I set up shop at a festival in a center behind my studio. I took six of my tree paintings with me to show off to visitors. The above painting was the most popular with viewers. I received many comments on this one.

There were many painters at the festival who did Florida paintings. Visitors told me that mine were unique because I didn't do the same marsh and palm tree paintings that the others did. I have done many marsh and palm paintings in my long career, but for the last year or two, I have focused more on rural agricultural Florida. This is the land I grew up with. I was born and raised in north central Florida, with pines and hardwoods. I grew up with farmers and ranchers who hunted and fished to feed their families. The Florida of the past in many ways. This is unfortunate.