In addition, we’ll add some hints of detail in the form of smaller branches. These smaller branches reach out in horizontal directions, breaking up the vertical strokes of the leaves. A hard, black, Nupastel is used for the majority of these branches, while a lighter gray is used for some of the branches of lighter tone.
The Helpful Art Teacher
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Learning how to draw means learning to see. A good art lesson teaches us not only to create but to look at, think about and understand our world through art.
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Sunday, October 27, 2013
Look at the trees below. The autumn sunlight is steaming in from the side. The sun is not visible in these photographs. The sunlight creates light and shadow on the trees.
The trunks of the trees get smaller as they grow higher. The branches of the trees get smaller as they grow away from the trunk. The branches are angled upwards towards the sun. The higher you go on the tree the smaller the branches are. The branches eventually get so skinny that the lines come together and end in points. This is true for every tree in each of these pictures.
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| Next, start adding shadows to your trees. The light source for this assignment will be coming from the side. In the drawing above I selected a light source that is off the edge of the paper and to the right.
I did not draw the sun in the picture. For this assignment, do not draw the sun . I added shadows, using the side of my pencil and a blending stomp, to the right hand side of each branch of all my trees. I used an eraser to make sure that the left hand side of each branch looked as if the light was hitting it. |
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| The final step involves adding color. In early autumn, before they turn brown, fall leaves are yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange and red. These are analogous colors, which means that they are next to each other on the color wheel. Yellow and Red are primary colors. If you mix them together, you will create orange. Adding more red will create red-orange. Adding more yellow will create yellow-orange. |
Use transparent watercolors to add color to your picture. Mix the paint with water and practice painting with it on a separate piece of scrap paper. Scribble with pencil on your scrap paper and then paint over it. If you cannot see the pencil lines through the paint, add more water to your color in the mixing tray. You will know when the paint is transparent when you can still see the pencil lines through the color.
Gently dab transparent yellow paint where you want your leaves to have the light hitting them. Add some yellow-orange as you move away from the light. Gradually change the colors on each tree to go from yellow, through yellow-orange to orange to red-orange to red. If you are doing it correctly you will still be able to see the branches of the trees through the colors. Do not brush the colors on, instead dab them on to your paper with a wet brush, loaded with color. Dabbing the colors on instead of brushing them on to your paper will produce the texture of many fall leaves.
Next, add a brighter, yellower green to the grass for your foreground and a bluer green to the grass in your background. Green is made from the two primary colors yellow and blue.
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| When you mix yellow and blue, you create green. Adding more yellow will create yellow-green. Adding more blue will create blue-green. |
Putting yellow-green in the foreground will make the foreground appear brighter and nearer to the viewer. Adding blue-green to the background will make it seem farther away. Mix the colors in your background with plenty of water so they appear to fade off into the distance.
HOW WILL YOU BE GRADED:
Did you make trees with branches according to the directions?
Did you remember to add shadows but not include the sun?
VERY IMPORTANT:
If you have included the sun in your picture or made lollipop trees or trees with scribbles or cloud shapes on the top instead of branches, you will not be given any credit at all for your artwork. Your grade will be a zero.
The objective of this lesson is to teach students how to look at real trees and notice how they form branches and how those branches grow. Another objective of this lesson is to teach students how to use light and shadow in a landscape.
If you accidentally included the sun or drew lollipop trees, please take a new sheet of paper and follow directions instead.
RUBRIC:
Pencil drawing:
Trees have branches but no leaves-20 points
Drawing includes foreground, middle-ground, background and horizon line. The trees are higher up on the page and smaller the farther away they are. The smallest trees have roots on or below the horizon line. You must draw at least three trees, one in the foreground, one in the middle-ground and one in the background.-
20 points
Each tree is shaded in and has highlights, mid-tones and shadows- 20 points
You used overlapping to give your picture a sense of depth-
20 points
Your drawing is neatly and carefully drawn according to the directions and utilizes the entire page-
20 points
Rubric:
Watercolor Painting
You demonstrated that you knew the difference between transparent paint and opaque paint by mixing each color with water and practicing on a separate piece of paper. You used only transparent colors in your picture-
20 points
You demonstrated that you know how to mix colors by including yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange and red in your fall foliage-
20 points
Your finished painting has a sense of light and shadow. It is easy to see where the light is coming from. The leaves on the light side are yellower than the leaves on the shadow side. 20 points
You used a brighter, yellower green for the grass in the foreground of your painting. You used a bluer, more watered down green in the background, near the horizon line.-
20 points
Your finished painting is carefully executed and neatly done. It is obvious that you were trying to make something that looks nice and that you are proud of. You were not simply playing with paint. You were creating art.-
20 points
Claude Monet, The Avenue,
1878, Oil on canvas
This avenue of trees reminded me of Monet’s painting, as I was driving yesterday, so I pulled over and snapped this photograph.
As soon as I got home, I created this drawing.
The next morning I created this watercolor painting.
If you are having trouble drawing trees with branches, even after looking at the worksheet and watching the video, try drawing along with this tutorial which also has a narration:
Materials For Pastel Sketching
Soft pastels are produced by many art manufacturers. Quality and price varies greatly. If you’re just getting started with pastels, a less expensive option is produced by Reeves. Although this brand of pastels is not considered a “professional” choice, it is still capable of producing rich colors with effortless blending.
Recommended Materials
(Some of the following links are affiliate links which means we earn a small commission if you purchase at no additional cost to you.)
- Canson Mi-Teintes Pastel Paper
- Rembrandt Soft Pastels
- NuPastels
- Nylon Brush
- Acrylic Matte Medium
Create an Underpainting
In this drawing, our goal is to produce a quick and loose depiction of an autumn tree. While some details are important, they are not emphasized with this approach. Instead, we’ll focus on the color and value relationships and allow them to be the driving force of the sketch.
We’ll concentrate on the shapes of value and color that we see and make deliberate strokes with the pastels to mimic our observations. But before we apply these bold strokes of color, we’ll need to develop an acceptable base by creating an underpainting.
We’ll first lay down a few of the observed colors. A darker gray and Burnt Umber is used for the trunk of the tree while pinks, oranges, and yellow-greens are applied in the background.
An “underpainting” for a pastel painting can take many forms. It can simply be blended applications of color or a simple monochromatic value study. In this demonstration, we’ll use acrylic matte medium, applied with a nylon brush, to dissolve our initial applications of color. Water or alcohol can be substituted to create a similar effect, however these additives can wrinkle the paper. Matte medium dries very quickly and wrinkling is minimal.
Pastel Landscape Mastery
The “Pastel Landscape Mastery” video course is a comprehensive learning experience designed to provide the student with the most comprehensive approach to drawing landscapes with pastels.
VIEW COURSE
Layering Bolder Colors
After the underpainting is in place, we can begin the process of layering stronger and bolder pastel applications. In this case, our underpainting is rather dark. This is acceptable since we are building lighter values over the darker ones. Since much of our darker values are in place, we can now concentrate on slowly building in the lighter tones, increasing the contrast while building a full range of value.
We can also add darker tones if the value needs to be pushed darker in areas. In this case, a bit of black is required on the shadowed side of the tree trunks and in a few areas in the background.
Gradually, we can begin bringing in some of the brightest colors. A variety of oranges, red-oranges, and yellows are applied. A bit of Utramarine is added in places to increase the color contrast and vibration with the oranges. The red-orange also contrasts nicely with yellow-greens added in areas.
Bits of the sky are peaking through the canopy in areas. A very light blue is applied using vertical strokes, mainly at the top of the composition.
