Event
Tree Foliage: A Beginners ApproachWith Claire Haik
Saturday, October 18, 2025
10am–4pm
Adult Workshops
Adult Fall 2025
Tree Foliage: A Beginners Approachw/Claire Haik
October 18
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
This one-day tree painting workshop dives into tree structure and how to capture a tree’s personality in painting. We will focus on building the tree’s gesture, capturing its shape and movement, and understanding how its foliage integrates into the larger form.
Our goal is to learn how to generalize the tree’s structure and capture its essence without getting bogged down in minute details. The class will include lots of one-on-one instruction and a lecture exploring how both historical and contemporary painters approach tree construction.
Instead of aiming for finished paintings, we’ll do several small studies to solidify our understanding of trees and how we can communicate their individual character. This workshop is great for landscape painters who want to delve deeper into capturing the majesty of trees. Some painting experience would be helpful. Students are free to work in oil or acrylic.
MATERIALS LIST
Paint:
I often use the colors below, but they are not required. Feel free to bring any selection of colors you feel comfortable working with.
Titanium White (Opaque White)
Cadmium Yellow Light (Cool Yellow)
Cadmium Yellow Deep (Cool Yellow)
Yellow Ocher (Earth Yellow)
Ultramarine Blue (Warm Blue)
Cerulean Blue (Cool Blue)
Prussian Blue (Transparent Blue, Optional)
Ivory or Mars Black (Earth Blue, Optional)
Cadmium Red Medium (Warm Red)
Alizarin Crimson (Cool Red)
Burnt Sienna (Transparent Earth Red)
Brushes
Selection of Flats, Rounds, and Filberts in different Sizes (long handle brushes are preferable)
Palette Knife
Canvas or Support
We will be making at least four small paintings in this class. An 18×24 canvas or canvas paper would work perfectly. Then you could divide the surface into four smaller canvases using masking tape.
Source Material
Printed Photographs of Trees (the teacher will also provide some)