Day 84: Tree in the Cow Pasture
After yesterday’s painting I decided to do this tree study, or a painting just all about a tree to get in more practice painting trees. I picked this one because of it’s fantastic form, what an elegant creature!My friend let me paint in his cow pasture today, and at a certain point I heard some heavy breathing and turned around to find the entire herd staring at me in contemplative silence. It was nice to have their company and I’m sure they had no idea what I was doing there if I wasn’t there to feed them.Painting this tree was tricky because it had lots of sky showing through the leaves and by the end I was really making tree-sky soup! This has always been one of the great mysteries of painting to me: painting the leaves where they meet the sky. There is all kinds of advice on techniques for doing this out there, but when I find myself there in the moment I seem to try a little of this and a little of that until it looks right. I think that painting trees cannot really be taught, especially by describing it in a book. Painting a tree seems to be like painting a human, each one so particular in it’s character. And there are so many things to keep in mind: the gradations in the light to the shadow, the holes where the sky comes through, capturing its weight where it roots into the ground, yet the lightness of the leaves. Taking the time to study a tree really made me appreciate all of it’s complex and beautiful subtlety and the magnificence that is a tree.To buy today’s painting, click here.To view all other paintings from the project, click here.All paintings are 6×8″, painted on birch, unframed and cost $100 (+ $15 shipping). You can buy a painting directly from my website using paypal or by contacting me at kellyaksey@yahoo.com. You can share this project with someone you think may enjoy it. They can subscribe to receive the daily E Newsletter here or follow the Blog here or join the 100 Paintings Facebook Group here.