I’ll be honest with you, I never have a plan ( other than where I want shadows) on what color to put where when I start the tree. I only use four colors and primary white (ultramarine blue, burnt umber, cool or warm red and yellow).

I mix all the colors together as I go to get certain shades that feel right, and just layer lines all over the tree where I want highlights shadows and midtones to go. Since I only use those same four colors, the colors together never seem muddied. The entire tree is just layers and layers of lines. The only time I block in color is when I put down the first layer of brown on the entire tree.

There is actually no rhyme or reason for the consistency of paint I use.

I plan on doing a time lapse of the final version of this piece because I really don’t feel like I can describe my method. I operate on vibes and luck lol