How To Paint Aspen Trees In Watercolor

If you are dreaming of fall, or a very bones beginner level painting, or both, you volition relish this easy aspen tree painting with a sunset groundwork.

This tutorial simply utilizes ONE paint brush and only five basic acrylic paint colors.

Information technology is a smashing first time painting if you've never picked up a brush before (or in a long time). It is also a great painting you tin do with a group of beginner level painters and it is a PERFECT one to do with kids because the design is so unproblematic!

I did this painting on an 11 x 14 canvas, nonetheless, you tin can do this painting design on whatever canvas size.

The leaves can also exist customized to different colors. You tin can change them to light-green for a pretty summer/ spring scene.

Enjoy and happy painting!

Materials

Active Time 1 hour

Total Fourth dimension 1 hr

Difficulty Very Easy

Tools

Acrylic Paint
11 x 14 Canvas
Brush
Newspaper Towel
Palette
Water Cup

Brushes

3/four" Flat Wash

Colors

Cadmium Red Medium Hue
Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue
Phthalo Emerald Green (you can utilise literally any shade of greenish for this!)
Titanium White
Mars Black

Instructions

See tutorial on www.stepbysteppainting.net for total instructions

Download Tutorial!

Download Advert-Gratis PDF Printable Instructions & Video Download

Colour Palette

Note: y'all can substitute "phthalo emerald green" for whatsoever shade of light-green you may take!

Using arts and crafts paints?

You can try substituting with these Apple tree Barrel Craft Paints:

White
Black
Brilliant Yellow
Flag Crimson
New Shamrock

Directions At A Glance

Video

Stride Past Stride Directions

1. Paint The Sunset Groundwork

The background of this painting is a blended background with radiating (circular) strokes. Information technology starts in the middle where the glowing dominicus is and the color yellow is blended outwards to the edge of the sail. There is likewise a trivial hint of orange on the outer edges of the canvas.

To do this technique…

Position your canvas so that information technology is vertical. So load your palette with the following colors: titanium white (white), cadmium xanthous medium hue (yellowish) and only a small amount of cadmium red medium hue (red).

Next employ your 3/4″ flat launder castor to paint a circle on the right heart part of the sail. Pigment a large circle nigh vi″ in diameter.

Then, without rinsing your brush, load the tip of information technology into a pocket-size amount of cadmium xanthous medium hue.

Gently paint in circular strokes around the white circle, allowing that yellow to blend with the white. Keep your heart circumvolve (about 2-3 inches of circle) white and bright. If needed, add together more white to your brush to help with the blending.

Do you need tips on how to blend acrylics? Check information technology out here!

So continue to pigment circular strokes outwards. As you piece of work your manner out, add minor amounts of yellow to the brush and less white. The idea is to get the yellow to be more vibrant (less white) every bit it goes outwards and for the yellow to be brighter (more white) towards that middle circle.

Continue painting in circles with that yellow! It is okay if your blending isn't perfect or if it looks "streaky". The copse will disguise a lot of that! Also, information technology may help to add a small amount of water to your brush to help with the catamenia of the paint and likewise to assist with the blending.

When yous get to the corners, finish and mix a very very light orange colour on your palette. Do this by mixing 1 function red, 3 parts yellow and most four-v parts white. Information technology should be a very lite most peach color.

Alloy that in circular strokes as you approach the edges of your sheet and the corners.

Fill up the entire sail.

Optional: You tin can add more white in the very center where the bright circle is. Then add some white strokes radiating outwards from information technology.

ii. Paint The Grass

The grass in this painting consists of different shades and tints of green! Information technology starts in the dorsum with the lightest layer of green then the green gradually gets dark as information technology goes to the bottom edge of the canvass. You lot will be painting the grass in rows with each row overlapping the previous row and getting darker towards the lesser.

Completely rinse and dry your iii/4″ flat wash castor. So load your palette with phthalo emerald dark-green (light-green). You are going to mix a "tint" of that green by mixing white into information technology to lighten it upwards.

Mix about 3 parts white to i part dark-green (see movie of palette below).

So paint the grass by property your castor so yous utilize just the tip. Paint vertical strokes beyond the lesser of the canvas. Showtime well-nigh 2 inches from the bottom of the sail.

Then you will paint some other layer of green grass using a unlike green. Mix on your palette a slightly darker green. I choose to mix yellowish into my green this time! I did about three parts dark-green, 2 parts yellow and 2 parts white.

And then make another layer of vertical grass line strokes that overlap the starting time row you lot painted.

As you work your way down the canvass, mix more green into your grass so it gradually gets darker.

This side by side row tin exist just the green not mixed with any white or yellowish.

Keep painting rows of grass until you reach the lesser of the sheet.

Optional: you can brand your bottom row of grass a darker shade of green by mixing a very tiny bit of blackness into the greenish.

Expect for this to completely dry before moving on to the next step.

3. Paint Aspen Tree Trunks

Completely rinse and dry out your brush! It is as well recommended that you lot rinse your water out for this footstep so no greenish water gets mixed into the white paint that you will be using to paint the trees.

Load your palette with fresh white pigment. Then use your 3/4″ brush to paint a vertical tree trunk starting at the bottom of the grass and going all the manner to the top of the sheet.

Paint five dissimilar trunks. Make them go slightly at different angles. The edges of these trunks exercise non take to exist straight. They can exist slightly uneven. Yous can likewise choose to pigment more than 5 (or less than five) trees. I just made sure the sun was showing in between the copse.

Then use the tip of your castor to paint some smaller branches towards the top. These are very simple "Y'due south" sticking out on the left and correct of the trunks.

Optional: paint some black "Y" branches too!

4. Pigment Black Marks On Tree Trunks

The marks are very simple and crave the "dry brush" technique. Basically you load the tip of your castor in black pigment and so wipe off your brush with a paper towel.

Agree the brush so the tip is vertical. You will be slightly dragging the brush from the left of the trunk to the right. It will make a dry mark on the tree.

The stroke should exist dry out and somewhat run across through. You may demand to wipe off more paint if it is showing up besides dark.

Go along to brand more than dry brush marks upwardly the tree trunks. Try to brand a variety of thicknesses in the strokes. Yous tin can also vary the darkness or lightness of the stroke.

Optional: at the base of your trunks you can pigment nighttime grass strokes then that it overlaps part of the base. This will go far expect similar the aspen tree trunks are "nestled" into the grass.

5. Paint The Leaves

Completely rinse and dry your brush. Load your palette with cadmium crimson medium hue. Then load your brush in a thick amount of the red on the tip of the brush.

Pigment small rectangular marks with your brush. Paint them at diverse angles and sizes.

Form a sort of arch shape with the leaves in the upper surface area of the painting.

Add together more colors into your leaves! Do this past mixing some xanthous with ruby-red to make orange. And then add some white into the cherry and orange to make lighter colors. When you do this variety of color it actually gives depth into your leaves!

Keep filling up the top area with more than leaf strokes. Try to make these strokes thick and forming an arch shape. I chose to make sure the bright sunday circle had no leaves covering information technology.