How to Paint a Tree: 5 Acrylic Tree Techniques

The fan brush is the workhorse for all four trees. Get one in size 4 or 6. You'll also need a small round brush for trunk details. Put dark sap green, a mid-tone green, yellow, burnt umber (for trunks), and white on your palette.

Tape off four squares on your canvas so you can practice all four tree styles on one panel. The painter's tape gives you clean white borders between trees so you can compare techniques side by side.

Load the fan brush with dark sap green. Working from the SIDE of the brush (not flat-on), dab in a downward triangle zigzag motion - widest at the bottom, narrowing to a point at the top.

Open the bristles slightly as you go to expose more of the brush - that's what creates the pine-needle texture on the outside edges. Reload the brush often. One brushload won't fill a whole tree, and trying to make it stretch makes the tree look thin.

With a clean fan brush, mix a mid-tone color - green plus a touch of yellow gives you a marbled lighter green. Use the same zigzag motion over the dark base, focusing on the side of the tree facing your light source.

Add small dabs of pure yellow on top for highlights. Don't blend them in - the unblended bits read as light catching individual needles. Keep the highlights only on the lit side; the shaded side stays dark.

For a deciduous tree, use the corner of the fan brush to dab clusters of leaves in a rough oval shape. Build with darks first, then mid-tones, then highlights on the light-facing side.

For a slim canopy tree (like an African acacia), paint a thin trunk first with a small round brush in burnt umber. Then build a wide flat canopy at the top using horizontal sweeping strokes - the bristles fan outward to create the foliage texture.

The last tree leans in from the side of the canvas. Start the trunk near the edge, curving back toward the painting. Build the canopy on top using whatever method fits the tree type (pine zigzag or leafy dab).

Side trees feel natural when they lean TOWARD your light source - it suggests the tree is growing toward the sun. Painted asymmetry that looks intentional is the hardest part of this whole tutorial.