Will I Ever Learn?

I love trees. I want to do oil paintings of trees. I struggle with trees.

It’s been this way from the beginning.

When I first began learning to draw, oh, how I wanted to draw beautiful trees. My first trees looked like something a six-year-old might draw, but I kept practicing, and gradually, I did get better.

Then came watercolor painting. Yes, I wanted to paint trees. Again, my first efforts were laughable. But, I persisted. I practiced, and eventually I did improve.

I’ve struggled to draw trees with conte and pastels, colored pencils, and pen and ink. It’s always the same. My first attempts are childish scribbles, and only with a lot of time and consistent practice do I get good results.

That said, I’ve never reached the proficiency I want to have when it comes to trees. Sometimes, I wonder how far I can actually go in my art studies. Will I ever learn to create the landscapes I want? Will I ever be able to paint trees that make me smile? Or will it always be a struggle for me?

Here’s today’s tree practice:

 

If there’s a mistake to be made in painting trees, I’ve done it. I either have my paint too thick or else it’s too thin. I either mix my colors too much, or not enough. My tree trunks are either too skinny or too fat. My leaves are either too bushy or too scraggly. I tend to do too much highlighting, and I forget where the light is coming from.

This was intended to be a tall tree standing in front of several smaller trees, and while it’s not as awful as some of my trees have been, it’s not all I’d hoped it would be.

On the plus side, I do like the composition of elements in this painting. For the most part, I also like the colors, as well. Not too bright, yet not too dull and monotonous. I guess overall I like the painting, but I’m not satisfied with it…if that makes any sense!