Painting a contemporary picture of a tree. Step by step,

Here is a painting I  have just completed of a tree, in acrylics.  I shall take you through the process of creating this step by step.

Firstly I put some bold stripes of paint on to a canvas. This just sets the scene for the idea. I know it will change a lot!

Next I  add a rough outline of a tree and have a think about how I might do the foreground.

My next stage is to work a bit more in to the shape of the tree, and to add some extra dots of paint ( mainly yellow)  across the sky and tree.

I then decide to add a light area at the bottom of the sky. This gives depth to the work and draws your eye in to the painting. I have also added white paint dots across the whole sky area.

My next stage is to rethink the foreground.  I thought the overall effect was too repetitive. So I have considered a shadow area under the tree and some alternative coloured foreground sections. I have introduced the colour purple to the front of the work. I am still not convinced this is right though! 

So I am now playing with the idea a bit. I have subdivided the foreground in to more sections. I use a range of colours and different sized dots to create texture to the surface.

I now expand the number of branches on the tree. I blend the dots of the sky in to the tree. My aim is not realism. I am exploring mixing patterns with nature.

As I work toward completion I put variations of tone across the tree, sky and foreground. This is fairly time consuming as the detail is worked in small overlaid dabs and dots of paint. To avoid smudging you need to let each layer dry before starting on the next. I add a subtle texture to the trunk of the tree and lower branches. I remove the shadow area under the tree, as it just made the trunk look longer, and was not obvious as a shadow!  I put a few gold and bronze dots through the branches, although this is not too obvious unless the light catches them. However, it gives a glow in certain lighting conditions!

My painting is complete.

This will be put on sale through Artfinder . Please use the link on the sidebar to have a look.

I have also done this painting which is a similar style.