The Tale of a Tree - next theme for Aug/Sept
Friday, July 24, 2026
I announced in class our next theme, that is, Trees.
There's plenty of creativity, inspiration and fun to go around.
→ MORE INFO on my classes here.
If you wish to join us for a month or more of classes,
GET IN TOUCH and see if you don't get inspired, too! 🎨
Blessings, Joanie
Finally got around to taking some photos yesterday morning and came around to a few variations on a theme. At first I thought ONE tree......with many shots taken from over, under, bark only, roots only, a branch, looking up thru the branches and trunk, etc.
But upon taking a few dozen photos I quickly discovered that solo branches in many cases were hard to photograph. Similarly shooting from root to tippy top. Care to lay out a tarp and lay on the ground anyone?
So my little lemon tree didn't show much air when I shot UPwards. The individual branches were too close together, no spaciousness.
So.......my revised instructions are to take pics of trees you love, any part, the closer the better for me, multiple trees, not limited to one only, nice close ups of roots, how the branching appears, up through to sunlight filtering through. Let your Muse, you each have one you know, inspire!
Per usual, let your imaginations go wild.....perhaps you wish to draw fairies in your trees, or a goddess form of a tree in a trunk.....anything goes. Maybe a portrait and the tree branches becomes her hair!!!
Here are some pics i took out of camera (pixel pro 10 phone, nothing overly fancy) and then next to it i show lightly edited version. As you know, i am a huge advocate of photo editing - Why make it Hard when you can make it Easy approach. Editing gives you a shortcut to vibrant color, better composition and toning it colorwise to your preferences. We will review some editing tips for those of you finding your sea legs with the process. These were all very lightly edited, nothing fancy, promise.
 |
| the roots in this shot are more interesting to my eye |
 |
| simple brightening up and saturating color a bit |
 |
| a bit of contrast and shadows |
 |
| needed some brightening up, tone added, a bit of saturation |
 |
| don't forget to get some Bark shots, we will abstract these later |
 |
| my lemon tree, see how a bit of brightening makes the subject more paintable? Ok then, we are on vacation next week, so take a nature walk and take way more pics of trees than you think you need. Take branches, roots, fruit if any, leaves, etc....as it way better to have too many pics than too few. I am planning on painting on wood this time around, anyone care to join? What a great way to embrqce Treedom. Simple plywood cut to size is perfect. I will show you how to make a simple cradle later on in class. As for supplies, pull out your acrylics, gouache, charcoal, collage, mixed media......whatever you fancy. Have fun, and see you week of Aug 3.  I will send an email to all registered students next week.....in the meantime, enjoy Summer. Looks like we have another 5 week month coming up, so perhaps last week in September we get another little break, next time for Autumn. |
Ready to join us?
There's plenty of creativity, inspiration and fun to go around.
→ MORE INFO on my classes here.
If you wish to join us for a month or more of classes,
GET IN TOUCH and see if you don't get inspired, too! 🎨
Blessings, Joanie