Drawing Trees

Author: Zhao Wenfa
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The purpose of the "Rapid Learning Series on Landscape Painting" is to concisely and clearly convey the basic principles of landscape painting, such as brushwork, trees, rocks, clouds and water, scenic elements, copying, sketching, and coloring, through illustrations and concise explanations, enabling beginners to quickly master these skills and apply them in practice. The book aims to minimize detours or deviations in the learning process of landscape painting, thereby achieving rapid results. As for skill development, it is not something that can be achieved overnight. One cannot expect to grow fat in one bite. With continuous artistic practice over time, skill will deepen. This book provides a detailed introduction to the techniques, steps, composition, and characteristics of color and ink in various landscape and flower-and-bird paintings, along with illustrations for reference. Through methods such as the composition of trees and the order of brushstrokes when painting trees, the book introduces the techniques and steps for painting pine trees and miscellaneous trees, accompanied by works for appreciation. The common rules of trees can be summarized as follows:
1. All trees grow towards the sun and upward.
2. Trees must have branches on all four sides, with branches growing in front, back, left, and right.
3. The growth of tree branches follows three patterns: alternate, opposite, and mixed.
4. All tree branches have small knots at unequal intervals, and the tips of the branches are bare with a small bud, as all new buds and branches grow from these knots and bare tips.
5. Except for pine trees, most leaves are essentially leaf-shaped, generally round, elongated, star-shaped, large-leaved, or small-leaved.
6. Each tree consists of three parts: the trunk, the body, and the roots. Grasping the characteristics of these three parts helps to understand the main principles of trees.
7. Due to differences in the environment and climate in which trees grow, their habits and characteristics also vary. Diverse and varied forms reflect the personalities and rich meanings of different trees.