Birch Tree Paintings

The process of painting this fall-time landscape--one of my very first projects--taught me some important things about painting: one, sometimes you need to take a step back, and two, birch trees are really fun to paint.

The first step of this painting was the gradient sky--always the best part--and it seemed to go pretty well. Then it was time to tackle the trees. The basic shape of the white trunks was easy enough, but as I began to add strokes of black and dabs of gray to get the birch bark look, it suddenly seemed like this canvas was headed for “nice-try-paint-over” status. Up close it looked splotchy and smeary and just plain wrong. Dejected and disappointed, I called it quits and went to wash out my brushes. When I turned back and caught a glimpse of the canvas, I couldn’t believe my eyes! Those white trunks with splotches and smears actually looked like trees!

Lesson learned? When the details seem all wrong when viewed up close, step back and take in the big picture. You might be surprised at how all the seemingly ‘wrong’ details work together to create a lovely whole. Come to think of it, life in the hands of the Master Artist tends to work much the same way. The in-your-face details of life can sometimes seem a mess, but when viewed from the right perspective, you can see that He is working on a beautiful masterpiece.

Since that surprise success with the birch trees, they have become a favorite painting subject and, therefore, a favorite tree. One of the highlights of our recent trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota was a hike that took us along a valley stream lined with birch trees that had exploded with yellow. As we wound our way through the golden wonderland, we got a close up view of that fabulous, splotchy, smeary bark that is so fun to paint and were mesmerized by the leaves that shimmered in the sunlight overhead and carpeted the trail beneath our feet. Good call on the yellow, God.

With birch trees on my mind, it seems like a good time to share my favorite birch tree project for kids. It is a project for all ages and skill levels. The process is simple, fun (i.e. messy), and the end result, when you step back and take in the whole picture, makes kids say “Wow! Did I do that?” If you ask me, those are the very best kinds of projects.

Birch Tree Painting: The Details

Materials:

white art paper, cardstock, or other paper (We used 12x12 cardstock but any size would work.)

tempera paints (black plus whatever colors you want for the background)

paint brushes, sponges, or just use fingers!

a fine tooth comb

scissors

glue

The Process:

Use paint brushes, sponges, or even your fingers to do the background. (My boys used sponge brushes in the example.) You can see above that my kids have done a variety of background colors in attempt to capture the colors of each season, but if you are going for the warmth of fall, red and yellow paint should do the trick. When mixed together you’ll end up with orange tones as well. Encourage the kids to have fun dotting, dabbing, and smearing the paints, but don’t overdo it. You want to be able to see the original colors as well as the variety of shades they make when blended together. The danger is to do too much and end up with just one blended color. (For example, Soren’s ended up a bit on the orange side!) While it can be hard to refrain yourself, less dabbing actually makes for a more colorful scene.

While the background is drying, cut a piece of 12x12 white cardstock (or whatever size paper you are using) in half. Put small amounts of black paint along the paper and use a comb to scrape the paint across the paper. Add a few sponge splotches here and there as well.