Week 1 Winter Trees
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Our first week together focuses on winter trees, a beautiful and approachable subject for beginning watercolor. Without leaves or heavy color, winter trees allow us to slow down and notice the structure of a tree—its trunk, branches, and the quiet shapes it creates against the sky. They’re also the perfect way to begin learning how watercolor behaves on the page.
This week we’ll focus on a few foundational techniques that will support everything we paint throughout the course.
Brush Control
One of the most important watercolor skills is learning how to control your brush. By adjusting pressure as you paint, you can create both thin, delicate lines and thicker, stronger strokes. For tree branches, start with gentle pressure and lift your brush slightly as the branch extends outward. This naturally creates branches that taper and feel more organic.
A helpful practice is to simply paint a page of lines—thick, thin, curved, and branching—until your hand begins to feel comfortable with the brush.
Water Control
Watercolor is all about the balance between paint, water, and paper. This week we’ll experiment with different amounts of water to see how the paint moves.
A brush with more water will create softer, lighter marks, while less water creates stronger, more defined strokes. For winter trees, a slightly drier brush can help create crisp branches and subtle texture in the trunk.
Learning to pause, observe, and notice how the paint spreads will help you gain confidence as you work.
Understanding Value
Because winter trees often have very simple color palettes, they’re a wonderful way to explore value, which simply means how light or dark a color is.
Instead of relying on many colors, we can create depth by painting with:
Light washes for distant or subtle areas
Medium tones for the main trunk and branches
Darker accents to add contrast and definition
Even with just one or two colors, these value changes can bring a tree to life.
Simple Tree Structure
Before we paint leaves and full foliage in later weeks, we begin by observing the basic structure of a tree. Most trees grow in branching patterns that gradually split and become thinner as they reach outward.
Start with a simple trunk, then allow branches to divide naturally as you move up and outward. Try to let your brush move in a relaxed, flowing way rather than worrying about perfect lines—trees in nature are wonderfully imperfect.
A Quiet Beginning
Winter trees offer a calm and simple way to begin our watercolor journey. By focusing on structure, brush movement, and the gentle balance of water and paint, we build a foundation that will support all of our seasonal trees in the weeks ahead.
If you have time to practice at home this week, try painting a small collection of winter trees. Each one can be slightly different—tall, curved, delicate, or sturdy. Think of it as exploring rather than perfecting.
Watercolor often surprises us in the most beautiful ways, and this week is simply about getting comfortable with the brush and enjoying the process.
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