Painting 101:

Painting trees and sky and clouds

by Tissa Hewavitharana

The difference between a photograph and a painting is that, a painting expresses more than just the surface appearance of things with each stroke of the brush, the artist expresses his or her own personality and feelings about the subject.

Shady Trees

This applies particularly in a water colour painting, in which every brush mark remains visible and therefore becomes an integral part of the finished image. Beginners, through, have a tendency to be rigid and flexible in their brush work because they lack the confidence to be able to let go and adapt to the spontaneous qualities of water colour.

Don't be a slave to your subject break loose from it and let your enjoyment of it come through in your painting. Remember you don't have to paint a mater piece every time. Sometimes it's good simply to experiment and discover new ways of manipulating the brush and the paint.

Trees can have many shapes, but they are easily represented with a simple combination of shadowing.

A water colour must always be painted from light to dark. After outlining the area where the trees must go, a light green wash is applied, and then the contrasts are put in.

Expressive brush strokes

Various effects can be achieved with a dry brush. A day brush stroke on a dry back ground brings out the grain of the paper and can create an interplay with previously applied coats of paint. A dry brush can be used to paint over a white surface or one previously tinted with a wash.

The technique of using a dry brush is one of the most interesting ones that can be performed with water colour.

Naturally it isn't something to be used at all times since some areas of a painting will inevitably demands techniques involving blending colours or creating gradations.

Landscape

Take the landscape painting I have titled 'Shady Trees". The exercise that follows is a landscape with a group of trees in the foreground. The greens in this landscape are fresh and vibrant because the artist has built up his colours and tones with lively strokes of dark green, blue and yellow.

This painting is sufficiently' rich in shades and textures to allow it to perfectly demonstrate the technique of using the dry brush.

The tree trunks are precisely sketched and its most twisted branches are clearly shown. Instead of trying to paint individual leaves I have used small flecks and dabs of paint which indicate clusters of foliage without appearing stilted.

Trees are three-dimensional not flat, as they are so often portrayed. Notice the trees and foliage are massed into groups of light and dark tone so that each one registers strongly against the other.

Warm and cool greens built up with transparent glazes give the effect of sun shining through leaves. Finally, when all the paint is dry, the tall trees in the foreground (on the left) is added... Soft flowing brush strokes are made at an inclined angle to race the stalks.

The brush should not be too loaded with paint to allow broken brush strokes.

The landscape here shows that the shadows are a marvellous device for conveying an impression of bright sunshine. Here the pattern on shadows cast by the trees activates the composition and creates a buoyant spring - like feel.

The area corresponding to the road, is minimally but clearly outlined. Care is taken to give a light yellow ochre wash that differentiates the road from it vegetation. A light purple mixture is used to show the shadows fallen on the road. Shadows can be used to help build up or strength a composition.

Middle and dark values

This pattern of values is well suited for landscape painting. The sky, the source of light is very light in value. All horizontal planes, since they are perpendicular to the source of light, are also very light in value. All planes that are parallel to the light source do not receive the full intensity of the light source and are middle values and dark values. So a typical landscape scene is middle values and dark values against light values. This is a generalisation and should be taken as such.

The technique of using a dry is one of the most interesting ones that can be performed with watercolour. Naturally, it isn't something to be used at all times, since some areas of a painting will inevitably demand techniques involving blending colours or creating gradations.

Sky and clouds

When painting the sky, it should be planned beforehand what sort of weather conditions you are going to have, whether it's windy, sunny day with a lot of white clouds, or an approaching storm or a rainy day, or even clear blue sky. Even clear blue sky should graduate in tone with the colour at the horizon being weaker.

Combining techniques

The special techniques do not have to be used constantly in watercolours. In general, it is better to use these effects as very defining notes in any work. All the techniques of water colour must be combined intelligently so that the painting is not cluttered up with special effects. When composing a sunny scene, remember that either the bright warm areas should dominate or the cool, dark shadow areas. If there is an even spread of light and dark, the effects of bright sunshine will be lost. The painting related to this article demonstrates how successful, when painting a bathed in bright sunshine is much exciting and vibrant.

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