In The Pines

The current #KWPrompts is #Trees. (Find more info about the KWPrompts art challenge here.) Trees are a great art subject to have fun with, no matter how experienced you are or what your preferred art style is. I'm here to share some tricks & tips I've picked up after a week of drawing & painting these lovely plants.

Ink drawing of tree bark for several types of trees such as birch, oak, & pine. Also drawing of stumps & cut logs that show the trees' growth rings.

  1. Look at trees that have shed their leaves! Understanding how the branches grow will help you draw better trees, much like how studying bone/muscle structures helps you draw better animals.

  2. Less can be more – don't draw every individual leaf on a a tree unless you are one of those artists whose style involves putting in an absurd level of detail & maybe not even then.

  3. Even a fairly straight branch isn't really straight- they're all lumps & bumps & twists & turns. Don't just look at the branch, look at the space between branches (aka the negative space.)

  4. Does your tree look a little too... deliberate? Hold your pencil, brush (etc) as far from the tip as you comfortably can. This loosens up the marks you make.

  5. Avoid symmetry at all costs. The two sides of a tree are siblings, not twins. The only time they sides should be very similar is when the tree in question has been purposely shaped– & even then, the symmetry is rarely perfect.

  6. Use the back end of your paintbrush, or anything pointy but not really sharp, to lightly indent the watercolor paper after painting it. The pigment settles into the dent, making it darker. This is one of my favorite ways to paint bark right now.

Watercolor of a mossy log.

One Tip I Didn't Try

Old brushes are valuable! Mushing, crushing, even — yes — cutting an old brush can make it a great tool for painting foliage. I have only been painting for 2 years, so all my brushes are still my sweet little well-maintained tools & hurting them hurts me. As such I do not have it in me to mangle my brushes. I did not try this tip, but I saw it repeated so many times it is worth mentioning. I have very cheap dollar store brushes somewhere but could not find/mutilate them in time to write this. When I try this tip in the future, be sure I will come back here to write about it!

2 watercolor trees, an evergreen with widespread boughs & a round deciduous tree with bright orange-yellow leaves.

Got Any Trees?

Pass them this way! The art challenge lasts 1 more week from the day this post was made. You can submit a new picture every day, work on one picture for whole time, or post pics randomly. This is the most laid-back art challenge on the internet, & that means you have plenty of time to make your art however you want.

Use #KWPrompts #Trees & tag me @KarinWanderer so I see it!

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky Cara

All art styles & skill levels are welcome- beginner to expert, renaissance painting to rough sketch! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed. Have a fantastic day, draw something for my art challenge, see you next week!

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