Elements of Landscape Painting: Trees, By Ryan Delgado

Elements of Landscape Painting: Trees

Without question, one of the most common elements to a landscape painting is a tree. They're everywhere! Whether they are distant groups of trees or individual ones in the foreground of our composition, chances are if we're painting a landscape, there's going to be a tree somewhere.

In this video, artist Ryan Delgado demonstrates his approach to painting an individual tree in the foreground starting with the initial toning of the canvas, followed by the block-in stage, and the build up of alla prima applications of color. But he's not stopping there! In addition to the tree itself, Ryan addresses other surrounding elements of the landscape that give the tree context and allow for a more convincing representation of nature, including a second tree in the middle background, the distant trees in the far background, the sky peeking through the leaves and branches, and the lay of the land. Painting trees is all about identifying shapes and the skill of careful observation of color and value, and those are the two most valueable lessons of this demonstration.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I did not use Pthalo Green in this painting demo, even though I mention it in my commentary. For every mention of "Pthalo Green", I'm actually using Viridian. -Ryan

Included in this video:

-Full length real time painting demonstration and commentary from the blank canvas to the final touches.

-Introduction and description of all materials used in the video including palette of colors, brushes and canvas.

-Simultaneous views of the photo reference, palette, and canvas throughout the demonstration with no cuts or edits.

About Ryan

Ryan Delgado is a representational oil painter from Kansas City, Missouri. He specializes in portrait/figurative and landscape oil painting in the realist tradition, influenced by the Old Masters of the Renaissance through th 19th century. His work has been featured in numerous local and national exhibitions throughout the U.S. in states such as Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, and Texas. He is currently a member artist of the Missouri Valley Impressionist Society, and has previously participated in national exhibitions with the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society.