Acrylic Tree Tutorial

I am asked a lot, if I would do some painting tutorials, so I am going to try and come up with some ideas for paintings that you might like to use.

The above painting is done with acrylic paint on canvas, but would work well with oil paint too.

You need to work fairly quickly with acrylics, as they do dry fast

1. Spray the canvas with water to keep it damp and allow you a longer time to work with your paint.

2. Use a sponge, dishcloth, kitchen towel etc. to place random patterns of paint on your surface, imagining they are leaves on a tree. Use colours you like, in any combination, just make sure it is a thick consistency. Cheap quality paint is ideal for this.

3. While the paint is still wet, use a rubber scraper tool, end of a paintbrush or kitchen implement, to draw a tree shape in the paint. Don't worry too much about the shape, as long as it has a trunk and some branches, you will achieve a good effect.

4. You could leave the painting like this or you could paint a little dark paint on one side of each branch and the trunk, to add a little depth.

5. If there are parts of the painting that you are not happy with or you want to add a bit more texture, you can sponge a little more paint onto the tree, or use an old toothbrush to splash some smaller dots of colour on the top, as I have done.

6. Use the same technique to paint a row of smaller trees or even a forest.

7. If you are not happy with your first attempt, let it dry and paint over with a single colour and start again.

Happy Painting!





Painting for sale at my website. Please visit and sign the guest book.

annmariebone.com

Please like me on facebook

My Facebook Page