Gouache is perhaps the most popular painting technique. These paints are opaque, which allows even the most inexperienced artist to correct mistakes without redoing the entire work. Before drawing the tree, prepare the leaf.
Background preparation
It is better to draw a tree with gouache in stages. There are several ways to prepare the background for a picture. It can be covered with a layer of gouache - blue, pinkish, bluish. It all depends on what time of year you are going to portray. Remember that when working with gouache, the desired shade is obtained by mixing paints - for example, you get a blue color by diluting a blue paint with whitewash. If you want a background with subtle transitions from one color to another, fill it with watercolor.
When painting with watercolors, the desired saturation is obtained by adding more or less water.
Moisten the sheet with a foam sponge, apply the desired colors with spots, then wash off the paint with a wide brush or the same sponge. You can split the sheet in half with the horizon line. Apply a layer of green or brown gouache on the bottom. A tree can grow on the banks of some body of water - a river or lake. Sketch its outlines and fill it with grayish or bluish paint.
Draw the trunk
To draw a tree with gouache, a preliminary sketch is not required. Take on a soft brush (squirrel or kolinsky) black or brown paint. Draw a line from top to bottom. Begin to guide it with the tip of the brush, then gradually increase the pressure. The barrel will take on the desired shape without undue effort on your part. From where you started drawing, draw a few lines upward. The common trunk is first divided into several parts, which, in turn, branch out into even smaller ones.
Spruce and some other conifers have an almost perfectly straight trunk. For all the rest, the trunk can be curved or bifurcated from the very root.
Crown
From each large branch, draw several smaller ones with curved lines. It is better to paint with the end of the brush, with the same pressure. Let the work dry. If you want to paint the leaves, dip a thin brush in the color you want (green, yellow, orange, or red).
Leaves can be painted using the wetting method. Apply strokes in different directions. Let some leaves cover the branches. If you are drawing a spring tree, the leaves will be small. It is more convenient to draw them with dots, with the tip of a brush. Draw the grass at the roots also with the end of the brush, but with vertical or oblique strokes.
Another way to paint a winter tree with gouache
A spectacular painting can be made by removing excess paint. For such work you will need:
- a sheet of thick black paper;
- gouache;
- thick needle;
- a knife with a sharp thin blade.
Make a background. Cover a sheet of black paper with paint - for example, white below the horizon and blue above. Let the work dry. Use a needle or a hard pencil to draw the outlines of the tree - the trunk, large and small branches. Scratch thin twigs with a needle to the black layer, and where the thick trunk passes, cut off the paint with a sharp knife with a narrow blade.
