Sycamore Tree
Sketching the tree onto my paper, based on my photo,
Placing invisible tape over the tree trunks and branches, because I knew I could never negative paint between all of them,
Cutting away excess tape from the tree edges with an X-acto knife,
Painting the sky and the hillside and letting the paint dry,
Peeling off the remaining tape, again with my knife,
Painting in the branches and leaves.
I took the photo of the tree in April, 2023, when I went on a birding trip to Silver City, New Mexico. The tree was taken at the entrance to the Catwalk in Catron County. The leaves on the tree were just starting to emerge.
I used an old block of Fluid 100 cold press paper and assorted brands of paint, much of which were Schiminke supergranulating Desert series, Mameri Blu greens and white gouache highlights.
The little nicks and flaws that you see are a result of handling the paper while removing tape and bits of paper, but I like the busy energy the flaws add to the painting. I like stretching my watercolor boundaries.
This is a complex, detailed work. I think this subject needs a very good planing and it's rather difficult to emphasize the beauty of so many trees, with about the same shapes and characteristics.