- 1). Squeeze a dime-size drop of each of your acrylic paints into the wells of your painter palette. You can use other types of paint to create your foreground tree, but these are basic techniques that can be applied to most types of paints used by artists.
- 2). Dip the tip of your No. 6 bristle brush into your dark brown paint. With your brush, paint a long vertical line on your canvas that is propped up on your easel. This will be the basis of the trunk of your tree. You can paint it on the left or right hand side of your canvas, depending on your personal design for your painting. Go over your line several times to increase the thickness of your tree. Wipe the tip of your No. 6 brush with your dry cloth and set your brush aside.
- 3). Dip the tip of your No. 8 bristle brush into your dark brown paint. Using your trunk as a guideline, paint think lines extending from your trunk that will be your branches. Use a light stroke and do not go over your lines. Wipe the tip of your No. 8 brush with a clean section of your dry cloth and set your brush aside.
- 4). Dip the edge of your fan brush into your dark green paint. Lightly set the brush at the end of one of your branches and twist it along the canvas to create a flowing arc. It will almost look like part of a green cloud. Repeat this technique along all of your branches, dipping it in the paint as necessary to refill your brush, until all your branches have green clouds around them. Make sure you do not cover your branches with your green paint. You now have the basic outline for your leaves.
- 5). Dip the tip of your No. 4 bristle brush into your medium green paint. You will use this to create the outline of your leaves. Starting at your branch, carefully paint in the outlines of your leaves until your reach the edge of your green cloud. Repeat this for each of your branches and green clouds. You do not need to detail every leaf in your foreground tree, but do it enough to give the look of individual leaves. Outline about every one to three leaves. Wipe off the tip of your No. 4 cloth with a clean section of your dry cloth.
- 6). Dip the tip of your No. 4 bristle brush into the light brown paint. You will now create the bark highlights on your trunk and branches. With a steady hand, lightly draw lines of different lengths along the bark of your tree. You will want thin lines, but they should not be straight. Make your lines slightly rippled like the bark of the tree by varying the pressure you apply to the brush as you paint the line. Paint these thin lines along some of your branches to create the look of light hitting your branches. Wipe off the tip of your No. 4 with a clean section of your dry cloth.
- 7). Dip the tip of your No. 4 bristle brush into your light green paint. You will now create the highlights on your leaves. Set your paint brush slightly off center on one of the detailed leaves. Create a thin, smooth, arching line along your leaf. Repeat for all the leaves you outlined. You now have a painted tree in your foreground.
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