3 Easy Watercolor Trees Every Beginner Can Paint Today! 🌳

Hello, my artistic friends, so glad you're here with me today. Today, I thought we would play with some trees and I have gotten a lot of requests for them. I'm not sure what kind of trees you're looking for, but I'm going to just share with you how I've created trees over the years. I've actually done quite a few of them. I've done some for Christmas, from Christmas trees to just regular trees. I did a commission once of a beautiful old log that had a tree growing out of it, which was really cool and I got really detailed and into it. What I'm going to share with you today is just some fun easy ways to create some trees. So let's go ahead and get started. I'm going to choose some colors here and I'll share those with you and I'm using the last of my... as a matter of fact, I think this is my last page. It certainly is. So this is my last page of this really great paper. It's Stonehenge. I think I've said before, I probably won't buy it again. It's kind of pricey. I got this as a gift. But it is, it is a good paper. I like it. I like arches as well. So I'll probably just stick with my arches. Today I'm using my little palette from Mist Ceramics. She made this for me. She also made me the round ones you see me using. What I loved is she created these little daisies because I love wildflowers. And I've got my two containers of water, one to wash, one to rinse, and I'm actually going to, I think, I'm debating if I should use my Princeton 6 or I might try out this brand new brush. They're the Snap Brushes. They actually were, are an Emma brush. That's her kind of signature brush. So some of you might have tried those. I'm not going to try and pronounce her last name because I don't want to mess it up. But I know you all know Emma. She's a wonderful, wonderful artist on here. I really like her teaching style. So I thought I'm gonna try her brushes. So I've got this Princeton Snap Brush round number 6. I really prefer an 8 like this so you can see kind of the difference here. But let's, let's give this a try today. So the colors I will be using are going to be this Sap Green, like this one here. Just adding some water to that. There we go. And then I'm going to also use the Olive Green. Okay. There we go. So we've got both of those. I know on camera they look very similar and I typically mix them together. The Sap Green to me looks, these are all Winsor Newton paints. The Sap Green looks a little bit more like Kelly Greenish to me. And the Olive Green is just a little bit darker, which I really like. I like having a dark deep green. I also really love the other one that I share a lot and paint with a lot is this Green Gold. I really like that one as well. So I might just make a little well of that like so. And then the other colors I would really like to have out here are let's see, let's get like a Cad Yellow because I think that will be good for some of the lighter spots. So let's make a little well of that. There we go. I'm going to add just a little bit more of that. And I, in my little tutorial kit, I will list all of these on a little swatch for you. And then I'm also going to probably use a little Yellow Ochre. I think that could be pretty too. So let's make a little well of that. There we go. So that's a lot of colors there. When we get into the trunk, I'll probably be using Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, maybe a little Payne's Gray for some of the darker areas. But let's play a little bit with these fun trees. So I like to start with on my trees and I'm going to try and do maybe maybe three or four of them here for you. I like to, I'm actually looking out my window at some trees here and right now we've got a lot of really gold yellow type of trees. So I'm going to start with a very washy wash in the background. Okay, so let's just do that first. Let's see. That's a little bit too much water for my liking, so I might, it's not bad, but I think what I'll do, I really want it washy so it looks like it's in the back of the tree. There we go. Okay, I'm looking out the window as I'm painting this and they're quite round and then flat on the bottom. So that's kind of the look I'm going for. They have a few just kind of pieces coming out here and there and the top is rather flat. So I'm creating this wash for the background. As you all know, I love working with wet and wet. That's predominantly what I do. And I'll tell you this brush, it is very nice. It is a very firm brush, which could be good. It's, I guess they're called snap brushes. So the snap in them is very good. They are very firm brush and I actually do like them. So while this is still wet, I'm going to go in, now all the trees here are very gold like this and bright yellow. I'm going to go in with a tiny bit of that sap green and just with a very watery version start creating, just tapping in like so. Okay, and I'm making sure that I'm leaving a lot of white space in between here. So I'm not just painting, you know, like a lollipop. I suppose type of shape. So I'm going to go in there and just paint in some of that and as this dries, I will continue to add. So, there we go. Now I'm looking at my tree. I'm going to go in with maybe just a little bit darker, this darker olive green and kind of touch in. I like to go in somewhat circular little directions to look because on these trees here as I'm looking at them, it looks like there's that's underneath. Okay. So I'm just dabbing in wet and wet. That's how I like to do my trees. I like to do them wet and wet. Now what I think I will do is mix a little bit of that olive green with some of that green gold because I really want to get some nice dark undertones as I'm looking out there. There's little pockets. Might not add a ton of that, but there are little pockets of dark spots. I feel like some of the spots closer to the middle of the tree have more dark in them than moving outwards. So I kind of like that. I think what else I'll do is I notice there's kind of some of these little branches sticking out. So I'm gonna water, not even branches, some areas with leaves on them kind of sticking out, but I want them to be watery. Now that's pretty. I like that and I am seeing that a lot. So I'm going to hold my brush up higher so I have a little bit looser brush and I'm going to kind of let it dab kind of like that because I'm seeing these little pieces kind of sticking out here and there. And I really like that you guys. Now what I want to do is while this is wet, I want to go in and create the trunk. So I'm rinsing my brush, washing and rinsing my brush, just tapping it and now I'm going to pick up some of that burnt sienna and some burnt umber. So let's just grab that. Here is my burnt sienna, which has a little bit of red in it. So I want to add some darkness in there. So I think what I'll do is grab a little bit of this burnt umber and Emma, well done. I actually really like your brushes. I like trying new brushes. And then I'm going to add in, as always, some of my green, my Payne's gray. And maybe even to, I could add in a little bit of the green just to bring in some of that undertone of the tree. So now I'm really liking the look of this, you guys. Now I did keep this very light area over here because looking at the tree outside my window, there's a very light area out here. So I'm mimicking that a little bit and then I'm going to go in, let's test out her wonderful brush here. And use that point. So holding closer down, I'm going to use that point and press very, very lightly. Okay, now these trees, they kind of, they don't have a real huge trunk. So I'm just going to do something like that. And while this is wet, I want to make sure I'm going in there and adding some of these little branches like so. Oh, I really like that. And you know, I actually really like her brush. Pretty cool. And how fun is that, that she has her own brush line. I think that's awesome. And they were very reasonable, you guys, actually really reasonable. So check them out. They're on Amazon. I can even link it for you if you like, if you want to try them out. I think they were maybe $12 or $15, something like that for a pack. I got a few others brushes in there. I think it was a pack of four and it was this angle brush and two small, small round brushes. So it was a really good deal. Okay, so I'm going to go in here. What I like to do, by the way, at the base of my trunks is I like to go in with just a wet brush and I've got a little pink left on there and dab it off a bit and just swash across the bottom. I think it just creates kind of this fun little like looks like dirt. I might add a little bit more color in there like that. Something like that. So I think I'm pretty well done. I could actually go into this tree and add in a little bit more of Payne's gray just to kind of create some depth. I might even take my paper towel and because the light is coming from this direction, maybe just create some light spots on the trunk. How nice is that? I actually kind of like that. So you can see that light coming in. I don't know if you can see that or not. So I think that's pretty cool. So that's our first tree. I really like it. There's actually a part of me I want to go in and maybe add a little bit darker green in there, which is sometimes what I end up doing. But you got to know when to stop, right? But I might just go in. Yeah, I think that's kind of fun. And add in some... I tend to make these round kind of looks in my trees. That type of look. So I think that looks really, really nice. That's probably about my stopping point with that because I feel like if I keep going, I might overwork this. So there you go. Oh, see? Look it. Here I go. Now when you get to this place, just stop, folks. In my painting classes, I always tell my students, stop, stop, let it sit, let it sit and come back to it. OK, so let's go on to our second tree. I actually really, really like that. I think that's really beautiful. And hopefully that was easy for you. Let's do... Let me see. I did a couple of practice ones here. I know what I wanted to show you, and this is just really kind of fun. I don't usually do my trees like this, but it's a really, really, really easy way to do them. So you can buy these little seafoam sponges. And I don't even think... I don't know where I got this one, but I've had it for a And you just sponge it on into whatever shape you want. Kind of play with all your different colors. And look how easy. I mean, this is one of those like some of the brushes I've shared with you, just honestly a no thinker. You pick up a little bit of darker color and it automatically looks like a tree. So that's kind of a fun way to create these trees. Let's do a little bit more. Whoops. Just pick that up. My sponge is kind of dripping around. Let's go in with a little bit different colors. So I'm going to pick up a little bit of my sap green and go in. There you go. I mean, really easy, you guys. And look, that's a fun tree. Now, the one thing I might do is go in and kind of add some water so it's not quite so spongy looking. That's why I don't typically use things like that. There's a lot of fun little things you can use, saran wrap, foil. But I kind of like using my brush. So let's go in here and I'm going to go in with a little bit of the yellow ochre. So let me grab some of that just to create some highlights. Look at that. Oh, that's that's really pretty. I like that. That really creates some interest. Look how pretty that is. And, you know, unless, you know, you somebody kind of knows watercolors, I don't think they would look at this and be like, oh, you used a sponge. You know, that's cheating, which is what my college teachers always said. They would have died if I ever turned in anything made with a sponge. But you know what? I'm all about having fun these days, guys. And if you want to paint with a sponge, you paint with a sponge. It doesn't matter. So let's go in now and create that trunk again. So I'm going to go into my burnt sienna again, which is kind of a reddish brown. I love the color. And let's add in a little bit of that olive green just so that the tree trunk has a little bit of that hue in it. And let's go in here. So I think this tree. There we go. Coming down again. Let's go up in here. Now I want to create some branches in here now because I used that sponge. It isn't quite as wet, so I'm not getting that spread, which I really like going wet on wet. That's just my thing. And just something to note that, you know, it has a little different look. OK, now I'm going to go in while this is wet and just I'm going to add more branches here, too. But let's go in while it's wet and just create that. There we go. OK, so let's go in and add a few more trunks, trunk or stems. And I'm doing that by using my Payne's gray, which I love versus black because it has a little bit of a blue tint to it. And I also mixed in some of the green. So I'm going to just dab some of that in like so. OK. And then let's add in. I really would have liked to have seen this spread a little bit more. But that's OK. That's just me liking that wet in wet type of look. So I think I might even go in and soften these a little bit because they kind of it's like I can't help it. I they look too solid and hard line. So I'm going to go in and just kind of with some water, soften up a little bit like that. OK, so I think that's a really fun tree. That's another technique. And look, it's it's beautiful. You could go in and add a little bit of really dark green if you wanted to the underneath, and that would create those beautiful values of depth. So let me do that for you just to show you you know what what it does look like to add in darker colors. One second here, grabbing some paint and let it kind of create that depth and shadows. So I'm going to go in here and just kind of go in underneath. Now, I don't feel let me try and get a little bit more paint on there because I feel like I can't get that value that I want. OK, so that kind of creates this shadow. You go in, darken it a little bit more. The way I'm darkening it is just adding more paint versus paint versus water. So I'm using that darker value. There we go. I kind of like that in some of these little areas. Again, I like to go in in circles kind of like that, and that to me creates a lot of interest. If you wanted to go in with a really light value, I'm just going to rinse this little sponge off and kind of dab it and then maybe pull in almost with just water and kind of let it create a little bit of branches in the back like that. I kind of like that. It might be hard to see on here. So I'm going to leave that be because I don't want to overwork that. But you see how these dark areas are really fun to add in because they create that beautiful depth. So let's see what's another tree we could do. We could do a really easy. This is a Christmas tree I do every year. So let's do that. Really, really easy. And actually, Emma, I'm going to switch your brush here and I'm going to use. Well, you know what? Let's play. Let's keep playing with her brush. I do like it. OK, so I'm going to go in here. Let's see. And this is going to be more of like a pine tree, which is what I always paint at Christmas time, and I have a lot of fun with it. So let's just add in our trunk here. I might even add some brown to that. Something like that. I want it to have a little bit more water. There we go. And then I'm going to go in. I did an abstract Christmas tree many, many years ago for a Christmas card I created, and this is kind of what I did and it was really fun. So I just started out at the very top. And then hold your brush far away. And just let your brush go do its thing. Just playing in and out there. Like this, and it was really, really a fun card. I everybody loved it. I sent that out for my Christmas cards. So I'm just playing now. What adds some interest to this is go in and create some different colors so you could touch in. With some darker colors, just create a darker green here. And just go in. I always find that closer to the middle of the tree. It gets a little darker. And there you go. I think that's really fun. I actually the tree that I did. I did in oranges and Christmassy colors and it was really fun. I feel like I want to make a darker green there. So let's just pick up a little bit of that gold green and add in some of that in a few areas. Okay, something like that. And I think that's that's really fun too. It's like a little Christmas tree. I'm going to use some of that darker. I feel like I want to get darker in some of these areas. There we go. I think that's really fun. You could always add a little a bit of the tree coming out of the bottom if you wanted. Let's pick up some of our burnt sienna and burnt umber. Emma's brush is holding in strong here. I'm really kind of putting it to the test scrubbing into these paints. There you go. And you know, just like that. We can even go in and create that little water wet on wet at the bottom. Something like that. All right, so that's another little fun tree. Let's see. Is there another one? I think that's pretty good, actually. Not sure what the name of these trees might be, but I think that's pretty good. So I hope that was fun for you. I've had a lot of you ask me about painting these trees. Bear with me. I'm just going to raise my camera a bit so you can see them maybe all at one glance. There you go. Sorry for that camera movement. I don't edit and cut and splice yet. So what you see is what you see. You get all my mistakes, my pronouncing things wrong and everything else. So there's your three trees. I think these are really pretty. This is the sponge technique. I will make this a little kit for you. And so this is the sponge technique. This is just really a wet on wet. And this is more of just holding the brush from the top and letting it kind of swing around. I'll figure out what to call that one. And then all of these were done with the snap brush by Emma. This was a six round, which I really enjoyed. So I'll link that for you to her brush. And I think that's good, guys. I hope you have fun with these. I hope these are helpful. I will put a little swatch card and this painting. And then I always do a little sheet with my brush strokes and techniques I use. And I hope those are really helping you. You seem to be buying them. So I'm happy about that. And I think we're done. Thank you so much, everybody, for being here again. And that was really fun. Okay, see you soon.