This is a paint along course where I also cover tips and tricks on how to create a loose and colorful painting in a modern impressionist style. I chose to paint a simple tree surrounded by just a few elements: the sky, a plain grass field and some elements in the background. This way we can focus on detailing and texturing the painting without working towards tying together too many objects, each with their own values, hue and color saturation.

Painting this tree gives us a lot of freedom to experiment with different textures by using brushes and a palette knife interchangeably.

Trees and other organic elements like bushes help you develop your own style by exploring how the appearance of branches and leaves is given using the palette knife or different size brushes. We are looking to give our art a painterly feel with clear, bold brushstrokes.

The whole course is in real time so you will be able to see step-by-step how the painting is created, not skipping a single streak of color.

What you will learn

We will go over the basics of how to prepare for a painting and work our way from blocking in the basic shapes up to really small details, all while keeping in mind the composition and concentrating on giving the subject more depth.
I will teach you about the three value study and the underpainting, two of the most important steps in the painting process.
You’ll learn to use various techniques to boost your control and overall painting skills and see firsthand the importance of edges in your art.
Impressionism is concentrated on painting light and we’re going to learn to use expressive brushstrokes and smooth gradients to get the maximum impact out of our subject.

As a beginner:

You will learn 6 important tips that most don’t get right when they start out. You will experience the importance of these tips and will see their benefits immediately. Getting these right will help you paint with a lot more confidence and you’ll be able to concentrate more on your creativity.

As an intermediate or advanced student:

It will be a fun project, a great painting where I’m sure you will pick up a few ideas along the way. And if you haven’t experimented with modern impressionism, A tree in the sun is an awesome starting point with a lot of flexibility throughout the process, leaving you to create textures in however way you see fit.

Who This Class is for:

- all skill levels including beginners. I will explain everything I do along the way and, if you keep in mind the beginner tips and techniques mentioned in the course, you will be able to follow along and get a great result in the end;

- Oil painters. The painting is done in oils and many of the techniques, while can be done in other mediums too, are primarily oil painting techniques;

- Acrylic Painters. I have painted in acrylics for years and I can safely say that you can get a similar result using this medium. It would be more difficult to blend new layers into the underlayers but you can still get similar effects by reapplying both layer colors in small areas and blending them on the spot. All the colors mentioned in the course are available in acrylics too.

- Gouache, watercolor and Tempera Painters are welcome to try, but these mediums are so different, it would be quite difficult to follow along with the course. Still, I would love to see the result and I’m really curious as to how the painting will look in different types of mediums;

Hope you enjoy the course and don’t forget to post a photo of your work :). I am really excited to see what your finished painting will look like.

Also don’t forget to follow me for more courses in the future.

Cheers!

Esther Lawrence

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