Fall 2010 Acrylic Class

Fall 2010 Acrylic Project – PV Eucalyptus

I started the class by finishing up the palm trees in the background and any highlighting on the field or road I didn't do last week. I may do a bit more highlighting later but for now I need to wait until I'm on my finishing touches before doing any more.

The palm trees were done using my #4 flat sable brush for two reasons: one, it is a size that fits the thing I am working on and two it will give me more control of what I'm doing. The bristles are finer and they hold their shape a trait I will need for this step.

The palm tree right behind the house is very small and should be done very quickly. DO NOT spend too much time trying to create the perfect palm tree, it is too tiny. Using my sap green, a tiny touch of purple and some gesso (or you could use white if you want) I mixed a light gray green color. Remember, as things move into the distance they become smaller, less detailed and grayer in color. This is atmospheric perspective along with normal perspective, learn to see it as you drive around town.

I turned my brush sideways and using the width of the brush made a small "u" shaped stroke to start the trunk of the palm, then I made another right on top of that stroke to "stack" the strokes until I got the height I wanted for the trunk. For the fronds, I used the same color, this time using just the end of the brush to make small ribs for the fronds and off these ribs I made little "flicking" strokes to suggest the leaves coming off the ribs. Put enough in there to make it look natural. You might want to practice on a spare canvas with a bigger brush so you can see what you are doing. This was a problem for most of the class. Some had the ribs and no leaves, others had "stars on a stick" because they only made 5 leaves on the trees, others had scared palms because the fronds were sticking straight out from the tree so bend them, droop them, have them come from all directions from the center. Make small ones and long ones especially when you get to the closer palms because you will see a bit more detail. The closer ones were made the same way as the distant one except I added a bit of sienna to my color for the trunk and a bit more green for the fronds.

This is where I finally sketched in my eucalyptus tree with my vine charcoal. I leaned my tree into the picture and placed the trunk near the vertical third line and I took my tree off the top and the right side of my canvas, this will suggest that the tree is much bigger than the canvas can hold which is fine, the problem comes when you try to confine within the canvas so when it is framed it looks like it is stuck to the side of the frame. If it is going to go off the canvas anyway, make it look like you mean it.

Remember, this is just a sketch so avoid detail, you will do that with your brushes, all you need is a guide or suggestion of where the tree will be, how high it will be, and how far across your canvas it will come. You don't want to feel married to your sketch that can cause you problems when you go to paint your tree.

With my #6 flat bristle brush this time, first I added some dirt around the base of the tree. I painted right over some of my bushes but that is okay, I can fix the bushes later. I used a mix of sienna and a touch of purple for the patch of dirt under painting and will highlight it later.

For the tree I used the same brush and color but added a touch of white to gray the color a bit and touches of orange as well. Just like I started the palm trees, using the brush on its side for the edges of the trunk, I pulled in toward the center with a slight "u" shape. I do this so the edge of the tree isn't a hard line, the bristle ends will create a soft edge on the sides, the center of the trunk I used vertical strokes to fill up the space and to start the main branches. I will finish the branches and limbs with my liner brush.

If you don't have a liner, a round sable will work, just be sure it is one that comes to a nice point and whether it is a liner or a round you might want to practice on a piece of paper or a scrap canvas. Start your stroke at the bottom by pressing slightly, this will make a thicker line. As you pull up don't be afraid to wiggle or jerk your brush around a bit, your branches will be better for it but as you pull up to make the branch, also lift to make it thinner. To start another branch off of one you have just made, start the stroke in that existing branch then change direction to create a new branch. Trees have lots and lots of branches, limbs and twigs so don't do just a few, make interesting negative spaces between the branches and remember to overlap and cross over branches as well.

Next we will be adding the clumps of leaves to the tree but this is where I really need to get you to understand the importance of direction of your stroke. Our eyes pick up a lot of subtle detail that we may not be totally conscience of, it is how we tell people apart or can pick out our car in a parking lot full of cars, it is the same when you look at such ubiquitous scenes as driving down PV and you see all the trees. Most of us can spot the pine trees or the eucalyptus or palm trees. We know it without thinking, why? Because of their shape, their color and the way their leaves grow. As artists, we need to understand this so we can convince the view that what we are painting is a eucalyptus and not an oak, for instance. While they can be of similar size and some can be similar color – sort of a gray green – the shape of the leaves and the way they grow is totally different. Eucalyptus trees remind me of moss hanging off branches, they sort of dangle and drift in the breeze giving the tree a more graceful, flowing look. Keep this in mind as you are painting. I saw too many "oak" trees as I walked around class.

I was using my #6 flat brush still and I mixed a dark gray green color with Hooker's green and a touch of purple and a little white to slightly gray it. You want it to be dark so not too much white. Also as I painted I picked up touches or sienna and orange. The leaves on our trees grow in clumps that seem to drape over the branches, my stroke was to put the whole brush on the canvas, pull down, twist and lift. Get out your practice canvas so you know what you need to do. I did this rather quickly, creating clumps – this is called the mass color – leaving pockets of negative space in some places and overlapping and connecting clumps in others. I was also careful not to make the edges of my tree too symmetrical, lots of ins and outs.

When you are done, you should get the sense that the leaves are hanging down, if you don't, you will need to go back in and pull down on the edges of some of your clumps just remember to not fill in your tree completely, it needs some places where the birds can fly through.

Next time – with any luck – we may finish this painting, your homework is to look at eucalyptus trees and study them. Compare them to other trees and with each other. The more you know and understand your subject, the better off you will be.