How to draw and paint trees

Autumn Forest in oil pastels by Martin Stankewitz (How to draw a tree)

The trees are fabulous at the moment - and we should all be out making the most of them as landscape motifs!

For those who need some help in how to approach this, here are some links to very experienced artists and bloggers who have been writing about and drawing trees this year.

Stapleton Kearns - http://stapletonkearns.blogspot.com/

In the earlier part of 2010, Stapleton was writing about tree anatomy and how to look at trees - to understand their structure - and how to paint trees

• Branch control - about the need to simplify trees to paint them well.  The number of branches need to be controlled.
• Habits of branching - considers the different ways and angles in which trees throw out their branches
• Telescoping branches - considers how branches join, taper and create angularity in their form 
• Trees and balance - looks at how a mental plumb line helps you to see where the weight is in the form of the tree - and considers how the different parts of a tree (trunk, branches and foliage) achieve an overall balance
• Hidden bounding lines for drawing the forms of trees - about finding big shapes, critical lines and establishing relationships between trees and between trrees and the landscape
• Design problems in the placement of trees - how the four most important lines (the edges of the picture plane) relate to trees - and common mistakes to avoid
• Perspective in the masses of trees - emphasises how trees have perspective too
• Color and light in different parts of a tree - talks about how the light at different times of the day affects how you see and best picture trees
• Transparent branches against the sky - studies the approaches of different artists (Constable, Corot) to painting branches against the sky

He also has some tips for drawing and painting sky holes - those bits of trees that the birdies fly through - and various other aspects of drawing and painting trees

• Skyholes part 1 - about trying to find some order and relationships within the grouping of sky holes
• Sky holes 2 - about what colour to paint the sky holes so they don't jump out
• Sky holes 3 - studies sky holes in paintings by master landscape painters

How to draw a tree - http://www.draw-a-tree.com

This is Martin Stankewitz's blog - his emphasis is much more on drawing trees.  His recent posts have included:

• Drawing with oil pastels – autumn forest - demonstrates the use of oil pastels for vibrant colour in the company of wild boars
• How to draw simple leaves includes a tutorial “How to draw leaves” which explains how to draw simple leaves in various positions.
• Lost in wrinkles of bark – draw a tree trunk - illustrates just how much there is to draw in a tree

Pastel Pointers -  http://pastelpointersblog.artistsnetwork.com

Richard McKinley also has some tips for

• sky holes when working in pastels - see Pastel Tips for Sky Holes
• what to do When the Light Comes Through the Trees

and finally....

Here's a link to a newspaper article about Stourhead - one of the classic tree landscapes in the UK - which is always renowned for its autumn leaves