Since the Giant Project took over my life, many projects have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for their turns to come again. Since Phase I is completed and will be turned in on Tuesday, there is a little window of time to tackle some of these incomplete pieces. For almost a year I have been puzzling out how to paint an oak tree. This is not just any oak, but a perfect oak. It is to be used on the business card of a man who trims trees for a living, and it has to be just right. He told me where to find his favorite oak tree, so I photographed it last winter minus leaves and again in the spring with leaves. It is very gnarly, very tangled, and very hard to paint. I have painted it in many sessions, each one separated by months of thinking time. The leaves really had me baffled, and I got a bit of a boost at the Peppertree Show when seeing a beautifully painted oak tree there. The tree painting now looks like this:
It isn’t finished until Tree Man looks at it. I want to know if it has enough branches, if the branches look believable, if it has enough foliage, and if the overall shape is apropos for a tree trimmer’s business card!
4 Comments
I have a view of an oak tree from my back yard. I am attempting to paint it at this moment. I think your painting of the oak tree is wonderful. The one that I can see has sparse leaves and looks very much like your painting, except it doesn’t have the split tree branches. It is one trunk all the way to the sky, with branches coming out from there.
Judy, how is it turning out for you? One of the best tips I ever heard about painting trees is the clumps of leaves that are further back are darker and lacier (light showing through) and the closer clumps are lighter and more solid. Sounds mechanical or formulaic, but it helped me.
Thank you for reading and for commenting!
Thank you for this wonderful tip. I will try it in the oak tree painting I am attempting to paint at the moment. and let you know how it works out.
You are welcome, Judy. I am interested to know if it is helpful, since I don’t teach oil painting but am curious if I have anything to offer those who are learning (as I am).
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