5 Tips for Drawing Trees in Pastel Pencils

Trees in any medium often presents the artist with a challenge and the amateur artist with a nightmare. To help with this challenging subject I am outlining 5 key points that will help you understand the way I approach this subject every time. The colours will vary depending on the type of trees but the principle of these 5 points are still used.Almost always unless the trees are autumnal of a completely different colour I start with 168 (Earth Green Yellowish in the Faber-Castell Range) to all my green leafed trees, this is because I have found it to be the right colour tone and medium tone for the other colours to be added.The secret to successful trees is:1. Not to overwork them, these colours are hard and you could crush the paper.2. Use a medium tone (168 if the leaf is green) to get the ball rolling.3. Get to the stronger colours as quickly as you can.4. Add brighter colours such as 170 (May Green) and 104 (Light Yellow Glaze) using sharp pencils.5. Know when to stop.The usual sequence for the earth green leaf tree is 168, 170, 174, 182, 175, 199 with 170 and 104 added as the brightening colours. 167, 172 and other tones including 177, 192 and 183 can also be included to add slightly different shades. These numbers are from the Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencil Range.The example above is of Horsmonden Church in Kent and is surrounded by trees, this will be a mini project at a later date for you to practice the trees. There is more to the technique and I suggest people use this information as a guide only. Watch a video below I did for YouTube on drawing trees using pastel pencils:Sign up for our membership and learn how to draw using Pastel Pencils.