Trees and foliage are important features for the landscape painter, conveying a sense of scale, distance, light and shade, as well as suggesting location and the season. A group of sunlit trees can make a fascinating subject or provide valuable tonal contrast for defining other forms, such as buildings, rocks, boats and people. As organic forms, they may be more forgiving to draw than a Venetian palace, but still require careful observation of form, tone and colour to make them look convincing.
Distil the essentials
There are as many ways of interpreting the landscape as there are artists, from fine botanical detail to complete abstraction. My approach lies somewhere in between these two extremes. With both feet in the impressionist camp, I look for the abstract pattern of shapes that convey the effects of light, while adding just enough detail hopefully to make sense of it all. It's often a bit of a juggling act, best summed up by focusing on the essentials rather than counting leaves and branches. A single tree is a shape on its own, while a group of trees can also be seen as one connected shape to help simplify a scene.
That first impression
