How to paint EASY Watercolor Trees

As I look out my window, I am treated to the gorgeous colors of yellow maple trees and a blanket of multicolored carpet on the ground. I love the smell of this time of year that reminds me of a crisp juicy apple, memories of going back to school and the promise of a new school year.  Capturing the beauty of Fall These pleasurable feelings makes painting the colors of fall a joy. I want to share with you an easy way to capture the fall in watercolor. This is an easy technique to learn even if you are just starting out in watercolor. My students love it and so will you.

Material Tips First, you will need to either tape a piece of watercolor paper to a board or use a watercolor block. I always use Arches 140lb watercolor paper which you can buy by the sheet or in a block. Blocks are the most convenient as the paper is already gummed on all four sides and will stay flat. Drawing Tips Then I draw vertical lines to represent my trees. I am creating these trees from my imagination. Notice how I vary the angles of my lines.There is not a lot of detail so this is also a great painting to do if you don't have a lot of confidence in your drawing skills.

Tone the paper Next, I tone the paper using a thin wash of three primary colors. I used cadmium red, cobalt blue and yellow ochre...but really you can use any three you want. The yellow and blue blend seemlessly into green. Do not worry about where the colors are at this stage. Be as careless as you please and simply blot the areas that you want to make your white trees.

Mask the trunks Next, I mask out the trunks with low tack artist tape. Masking tape might rip and ruin your paper so I do suggest you seek out the low tack artist tape-- you will find this in the drafting area of the art supply store. I ripped the tape to vary the thickness of the trunks.

Purposeful Painting Now, you can have more fun. I kept the forest floor green and the area above the horizon line is red. You can do whatever you want. This is your landscape!

Finishing Details Carefully remove the tape and now add details. The dark paint will help make the white stand out and give the illusion of more detail than there really is.

Here is the finished watercolor painting which is you can collect online HERE: Tree Art by Miriam Schulman

You can save this step-by-step infographic to your pinterest board!

Want to learn more techniques like these?  In Watercolor Textures, an online video ecourse,  you will discover the confidence to create your  own landscape painting in your own style. → Learn more about this online class

Other watercolor tips you might like:

• How To Mix Green Paint

• Are you making these 3 mistakes with your watercolor paintings? 

• How to Paint Sand

Download your FREE ultimate watercolor supply list  to get the exact list of paints, brushes and paper I use everyday to create my watercolors!

In Case We Haven't Met Yet...

Hey, I'm Miriam Schulman and I create mixed media art to tell stories. I also teach other people how to craft their stories with art. I give them the techniques they need to get the results they desire which brings more joy to their lives. 

I would love to hear from you... Have you ever tried using masking tape in your watercolor paintings? What do you think of this idea?