Watercolor Painting a Green Tree Watercolor Painting Lesson by Jennifer Branch

Green trees, huh? Sounds easy... all you have to do is slap on some green paint and you're there. You look at the forest you're painting. The only colors you see are green and brown. So you paint the painting green and brown and you end up with a muddy, blotchy mess that has no depth and looks nothing like a forest scene.

First mistake - you may only see green and brown, but there have got to be some other colors in there - red, blue, black are safe bets - and trees generally have yellowish highlights somewhere. Tree trunks are often more gray or purple than brown. So paint these colors, not just greens.

Artist's Tips
Use lots of texture at the visible edges of the tree. Contours define it as a tree!

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You can't see the forest if you can't see the trees. The trick is, not every tree, just a few. Paint in layers, blurring an individual tree in and out of focus, merging it with its neighbors. Use negative painting (outline the object you're painting with a wash).

Painting a Green Tree Watercolor Painting tutorial

Use these only as possibilities - don't let your imagination have boundaries! Trees vary as much as any landscape, and again in the light. Your green trees are probably completely completely different colors.

Mixing Greens

If you're having some trouble mixing greens, this painting lesson YouTube video shows you how!
There are some quick tree studies to get you started too!