Oil Paint Demonstration - Tree

After outlining the tree, I added colors on the outline, which will add a sparkle effect to the image. More colors next to each other, the better the effect. I also painted the dark shadows making sure the colors are not bright and doesn't have the "out of the tube" look. To dull a color, the easiest way is to add it's opposite on the color wheel. If the green is too bright, then I would add a little "red" to tone it down.

After adding the shadow colors (at the top would be a lighter more blue shadow and would slowly work it's way to be darker and more reddish as I got to the bottom), I added the middle tones and did the same treatment with the color transition. (more bluish and lighter on top and darker, more reddish at the bottom of the tree.)

On Friday, Sept. 29, I did a tree demonstration for the Wallkill River School class. The focus was on getting the shape of the tree to have a natural and unique shape and to have the shadow and sunshine colors to be obvious and correct. I tried to stay away from bright colors.