Painting trees and foliage
Tissa Hewavitarane
There may be millions of leaves on some trees, so you simply can’t
paint them all. Simplification and generalisation again becomes
important, but looking and seeing are equally so. Each type of tree and
each tree in that type is unique, no two are exactly alike, so always
study the trees you are going to paint.
Problems
When it comes to painting trees and foliage, there are two faults
that occur time after time. One is lack of observation and other is
muddled brush work. The result is often a stereotyped cardboard cut out
of a tree with little thought of light and shade, and branches that are
silhouetted in front of the foliage rather than feeding up into it. What
I want to do, is give you a few of the basic facts about drawing trees,
some seemingly self-evident but so often ignored when painting.
Tree anatomy
There are of course many different species of trees, and no two trees
are the same. But there are certain anatomical points to watch out for
when painting trees, and by becoming familiar with them you will avoid
the stiff, a awkward - looking trees that spell ‘amateur’.
The structure of a tree gapers gradually upwards from its trunk to
twigs. First of all, the trunk doesn’t shoot straight out of the ground,
like a telegraph pole; normally some of the roots are visible.
The main limbs leave the trunk at an angle of roughly thirty degrees.
No two limbs leave the trunk directly opposite one another, or at the
same angle, so watch out for this occurring in your painting. The trunk
becomes narrower as it divides off into limbs until finally, at the top,
there is no trunk at all only a split into the last two limbs.
The limbs, in turn, split into smaller, thinner branches. Again the
branches come off the limbs in a staggered form - never directly
opposite one another. The angle of the branches is important.
At the top of the tree they leave the limbs at about a thirty degree
angle, but as they descend the tree they become more spaced out and the
angle becomes wider until, about two-third down, the branches are
horizontal.
At the same time, the length of the branches varies, gradually
becoming longer as they descend the tree. Each species of trees has its
own characteristic silhouette or basic profile. Branch structure is
different too.
Some trees branches out in a characteristic ‘Y’ fashion, some in an
erratic sickle shape. Another often have a ‘U’ where the branch joins
the trunk. Some branches leave the trunk at right angles, and the lower,
heavily weighted down ones even bend under their own weight.
More important that one get into the habit of looking at trees
analytically with these points in mind before you get even your brush
and paints out. Last comes the twigs, which are thinnest and fan out
from the ends of the branches.
These fine twigs are important, because without them the tree appears
dead. However, trying to paint every individual twig is both impossible
and undesirable. Its better to paint the twigs by applying feathery dry
brush strokes in a paler tone.
Sky holes
One important factor that is often overlooked is the gaps between the
branches. Even when a tree is in full leaf there are lots of small gaps
through which the sky is visible, particularly around the outer edges.
Sky-holes are some times called “space for the birds to fly through”,
are often completely ignored. Often quite a lot of sky can be seen
through even thickest foliage sky - holes are too very important putting
these in also avoids that card board cut-out look.
Variety of shapes
Make a habit of studying the characteristic shapes of various species
of trees, taking particular note of their proportions and growth habits.
Notice, for example, how tall and how wide the canopy of a tree is in
comparison to its lower trunk.
A common fault lies in making the canopy too small and constricted,
which results in the dreaded “lollipop” effect. Group of trees together
lose their own identity and unite to make one shape. The common fault
here is to overdo the detail on individual trees and foliage groups.
The further away a group or a wood, the less elaboration is needed.
In general, I try to resolve trees into two basic tones, putting the
lightest tone first and adding the strong darker tone while the first
still damp, keeping in mind where the light source is.
Whenever I am painting trees I use a sable hair brush number eight or
twelve to paint foliage which forces me to eliminate fussy detail and
concentrate on the basic masses. The direction of the strokes depends on
the basic character of the tree itself. Notice the trunk its direction,
thickness, texture and how lower branches radiate from it.
How does it emerge from the ground? Look at the surrounding
environment. Analyse their shapes and colour. A broad golden area, with
a few brownish strokes put on after it is dry, can suggest thousands of
grass blades.
The same is true of bushes and leaf clusters. Foliage in a forest is
massed together and must be painted that way. Single trees give up their
individuality to the group. Squint your eyes to eliminate minute
details.
Add the pattern you see - light first and then darks. Add
characteristic trunks and branches, observe the light patterns on the
ground and put down in a generalised way. Don’t get carried away with
detail use largest brushes for most of the painting.
Modelling
Where a tree is shown close up, as you see in this painting titled
‘the banian tree’. I have used mostly burnt umber, mixture of prussian
blue modelled with light and shade to show the roundness of the trunk.
Notice how the trunk is graded from light and warm colours at the base
to dark and cool at the top.
Observe the strategic ‘skyholes’ which make the tree look more
delicate and graceful. Branches and foliage are massed into groups of
light and dark tones so that each one registers strongly against the
other.
A very thin brush called the rigger is used for painting delicate
lines and putting the branches and twigs. The rigger - this brush has
very long hair which enables you to produce, with practice, an enormous
variety of widths of strokes depending on the pressure on the brush.
A good watercolour painting of trees is one that looks fresh and
spontaneous. The way to achieve this quality is to translate all those
complex shapes and textures into a simpler language. In other words, use
descriptive brushwork to suggest details, instead of laboriously
‘reporting’ them. |
