Trees for Beginners - From Sketching to Watercolor Painting

Name: Trees for Beginners - From Sketching to Watercolor Painting
Rating: 4.5 (6 reviews)

Learn how to draw several types of trees and explore interesting watercolor techniques to add color and texture

Created byJana Raninis

Last updated 6/2022

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Drawing/Watercolor Painting Trees for Beginners
Explore Several Kinds of Trees (Drawing and Watercolor Painting)
Easier and More Advanced Examples
Several Class Projects for the Students to Try the Techniques

Course content

2 sections • 19 lectures • 1h 22m total length

Introduction to the Course, Part 11:56
Anna introduces a two-part course on drawing trees for beginners, starting with simple tree sketches, adding texture and color, then turning them into watercolor paintings.
Materials1:09
Start with pencil sketching to gain control over strokes before watercolor, using an eraser to refine tree shapes, and gradually introduce color and texture in separate sessions.
Start Simple - Coniferous Trees4:10
Sketch simple conifer shapes into a pointy cone with a subtle trunk, then add zigzag needles and branches to create a more realistic, 3d pine.
Start Simple - Decidouos Trees I.3:48
Begin with a circle and trunk lines to sketch a deciduous tree, then build a simple branch skeleton and refine into a natural, thinner tree.
Start Simple - Deciduous Trees II.2:35
Start simple with a deciduous tree by sketching a trunk and crown, then add leaves around the branches. Keep some bottom branches visible for realism as you ground the scene.
Make It Interesting - Coniferous Trees3:25
Learn to sketch three different types for both conifers and deciduous trees by outlining the trunk, branches, and crown, and add twists, needles, and bonsai-like forms.
Make It Interesting - Deciduous Trees5:21
Master drawing deciduous trees by building the trunk and major branches, shaping crown forms like oval and mushroom shapes, then add layers of leaves for volume.
Class Project - Draw Your Favorite Tree1:55
Learn to draw your favorite tree using photos or references, explore interesting tree shapes, and transform sketches into watercolor paintings in the next class.
Final Thoughts0:25
Upload your projects in the project section to share your drawings and receive feedback. Check my other Skillshare classes, and see you next time.

Introduction to the Course, Part 21:45
Learn to sketch trees with pencil by turning simple geometric shapes into conifers and deciduous trees, then explore watercolor painting with a greenery color palette and bonus techniques.
Materials2:20
Use non-cotton watercolor paper for exercises and sketches with the white knight 12-color set; prepare brushes for branches, foliage, and texture, plus salt and surfaces like old fliers or magazines.
Color Palette3:30
Explore how to paint trees with dynamic color palettes by mixing yellow and indigo with greens to create light, shadows, and three-dimensional form, while exploring autumn hues and blues.
Painting Conifers7:26
Sketch conifers with a simple triangle, add the trunk centerline and branches, then build light-to-dark layers with indigo, ultramarine blue, and greens for a natural, luminous watercolor.
Painting Deciduous Trees16:35
Learn to paint deciduous trees in watercolor with simple shapes, varied brushwork, and light-driven color to capture foliage, autumn hues, and winter branches.
Bonus Watercolor Techniques to Paint Trees7:27
Explore three bonus techniques to paint trees. Master distant, foggy trees with a dry edge, salt texture for foliage, and leaf prints from non-absorbent paper.
Class Project 1 - Landscape with Conifers3:39
Paint a simple landscape with conifers as the main subject using imagination, light sky washes, and varied ground tones to make the trees the focal point.
Class Project 2 - Four Seasons9:22
Explore painting four seasonal deciduous trees as four small paintings, capturing spring blossoms, summer foliage, autumn colors, and winter forms with varied brushes and a ball-print method.
Trees In My Paintings4:52
Explore how wet-on-wet techniques and light tones render distant trees, while experimenting with emerald green, indigo, neutral tint, and English red for varied texture.
Final Thoughts0:47
Gain confidence painting trees through sketching and watercolor techniques, experiment with colors beyond brown and green, and apply practical tips shared during the session.

Requirements

No special requirements

Description

Trees are wonderful objects to draw and paint, one can never get bored by them because they are out there in so many shapes and kinds! And this class is all about trees.

The course is divided into two sections:

Section 1: Drawing the Trees

In this part of the class we are going to create first simple, and then a bit more advanced drawings of different tree types, just to make ourselves familiar with them. We are only going to be using regular pencil and any kind of paper you have at home, you do not need anything special.

This class is suitable for beginners who would like to learn how to turn simple geometric shapes into more realistic trees, and also for those of you who are – just like me – always happy to draw a new, interesting tree.

No surprises – our Special project is going to include a tree :) But not just any tree, it is your favorite tree! Do you have any? Or maybe there is some interesting tree growing just outside your window. Take a walk, take some nice pictures to get inspired, or just stay home, make yourself a nice cup of tea and choose a reference photo from the pictures I uploaded here!

Section 2: Watercolor Trees

Trees are my favorite object to paint, I love how diverse they are, how much imagination I can use to draw and paint them, even without reference picture.

In this part of the class we will paint several types of trees, we will use reference photo for few of them but the purpose of this class really is to show you how to paint lovely trees just out of your imagination.

Again, there are some Project for you to try the techniques and become more familiar with all the tips and tricks I share.

Because the topic of today's class is quite broad, there will be two Class Project this time.

In Class Project 1 - we will paint simple, lovely watercolor landscape with conifers.

In Class Project 2 - we will explore how the deciduous trees change during the year and try to capture these changes in our painting.

Who this course is for:

Beginners who would like to take first steps in drawing and painting trees using watercolor
Begginers who would like to learn how to draw/paint several different kinds of trees

Trees for Beginners - From Sketching to Watercolor Painting

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Drawing Trees - for Beginners9 lectures • 25min

Trees in Watercolor - for Beginners10 lectures • 58min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: