How to Paint Trees With Acrylics: 5 Easy Steps for Beginners
To paint trees with acrylics, paint the background first, add the trunk and main branches, build dark leaf shapes, and finish with lighter foliage and a few highlights. Work on acrylic painting paper and use small dabs to suggest groups of leaves.
For your first practice painting, choose one leafy tree with a clear trunk and a loose, rounded crown. Keep the shape simple and place the light on one side. This gives you a clear plan for the shadows and highlights.
What Do You Need to Paint Trees With Acrylics?
Prepare these supplies:
- Acrylic painting paper: Use paper made for acrylic paint, laid flat on a protected table.
- Acrylic paints: Blue, yellow, white and brown are enough for this exercise. A ready-mixed green is optional.
- Paintbrushes: Use a wider brush for the background and a smaller pointed brush for branches and details.
- A mixing surface: Set aside space for a dark green, a middle green and a lighter green.
- Water and paper towels: Rinse between colors and blot excess moisture from the brush.
- A reference image: Choose a tree whose overall shape and light direction are easy to see.
Test your green mixtures on extra painting paper. Mix a little blue into green for a cooler shade, or yellow into green for a warmer, lighter variation. The result depends on your paint colors, so adjust gradually.
If you are using a Painting4Real kit, follow its matching lesson and project colors. The steps below are a separate practice exercise.
How to Paint Trees With Acrylics Step by Step
Step 1: Paint the Background and Ground
Start with a pale sky and a simple strip of ground. Keep the background quieter than the tree so the main shape remains clear.
Use a thin, controlled layer of paint. Blend any sky colors while they are still wet, then let the background dry before adding the tree.
If your color changes look streaky, see our guide on how to blend acrylic paint.
Step 2: Add the Trunk and Main Branches
Lightly mark where the trunk meets the ground and how high the tree will reach. Leave space above and beside it for the leaves.
Paint the trunk brown, making it wider near the base and narrower toward the crown. Add a few main branches that split at different heights.
Use lighter pressure as you pull each branch outward. Vary the length and direction of the branches.
You only need a simple structure. Some branches will be partly covered by foliage.
Step 3: Block In the Dark Leaf Groups
Mix a dark green and paint several loose groups of foliage around the branches. Build each group as a small irregular shape.
Keep some spaces between the groups so the sky and a few branches remain visible. Use short dabs around the outside edge to break up the outline.
Leave darker areas beneath and between the groups. These will become the shadows that give the crown depth.
Let this layer dry before adding lighter foliage.
Step 4: Add Middle Greens and Leaf Texture
Mix a middle green and dab it over selected parts of the dark foliage. Leave some of the first layer uncovered.
Build the leaf groups with marks of different sizes. Turn the brush slightly or vary your pressure so the pattern does not repeat.
For this exercise, place the light source at the upper left. Put more of the middle green on the upper and left-facing parts of each group, while keeping the lower areas darker.
Avoid covering every dark patch. The contrast between layers helps separate the groups.
Step 5: Finish With Highlights and Grounding Details
Add a small amount of a lighter green to the brightest leaf areas. Place a few marks along the lit edges and upper surfaces.
Add a narrow lighter-brown mark along the lit side of the trunk. Keep the opposite side darker, and add a few small branches in visible gaps if needed.
Finish with a little grass or a shadow at the base so the tree connects to the ground.
Stop before every leaf group has the same amount of detail. Keep the brightest marks to a few areas facing the light.
To place your tree in a wider scene, follow our acrylic landscape painting guide.
How Do You Paint Tree Leaves With Acrylics?
Paint groups of leaves with small dabs. Begin with dark shapes, add a middle green, and finish with a few lighter marks.
Keep three things in mind:
- Vary the marks: Mix smaller dabs with a few broader ones.
- Leave gaps: Let some sky and darker paint show through.
- Break the outer edge: Use an uneven outline with small spaces between clusters.
If the brush leaves a solid blob, wipe off excess paint and test another dab. If wet colors mix into one flat shade, let the layer dry before continuing.
Our guide to acrylic painting techniques for beginners explains stippling and fine brushwork in more detail.
How Do You Paint Pine Trees With Acrylics?
For a pine-tree exercise, begin with a narrow trunk and a small pointed top. Add short groups of branches below it, gradually making the tree wider toward the base.
Alternate your brush marks on either side of the trunk. Leave gaps and vary the branch lengths so the silhouette has an irregular edge.
Start with a darker green, let it dry, and add a few lighter touches to the parts facing the light.
Practice one small pine before painting a group. Change the heights, widths and spacing when you add more trees.
Why Do Acrylic Trees Look Flat?
Trees can look flat when the foliage has one shade, the outline is too uniform, or highlights cover all the shadows.
What you see/What to change
One solid green shape Separate the crown into darker and lighter groups.
| What you see | What to change |
|---|---|
| One solid green shape | Separate the crown into darker and lighter groups. |
| A round, even outline | Add smaller clusters and leave gaps around the edge. |
| No visible shadow areas | Leave some dark paint uncovered beneath the lighter foliage. |
| Thick, repeated branches | Vary their direction and reduce pressure toward the tips. |
| A tree that appears to float | Connect the trunk to the ground with grass or a small shadow. |
Let an area dry before correcting it. Repeatedly brushing through tacky paint can disturb the marks you have already made.
Try a Tree-Themed Guided Painting Project
For a pine-landscape project with its own video lesson, view the Cliffside Pines Painting Kit.
Painting4Real kits include an 8×10 painting sheet, project paints, brushes and a printed card with access details for the matching lesson. Follow that lesson’s sequence for the artwork you choose.
Browse the acrylic painting kits collection for more designs, then use the product page’s Buy on Amazon button to order.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. What is a simple tree to paint with acrylics?
Start with one leafy tree using a clear trunk and a few loose foliage groups.
Q2. Should I paint the tree or background first?
Paint the background first and let it dry before adding the trunk, branches and foliage.
Q3. How do I make green leaves look less flat?
Use dark, middle and lighter greens, leaving some shadow areas uncovered.
Q4. Can I paint trees on painting paper?
Yes. Use paper made for acrylic paint and avoid soaking it with water.
Q5. Do I need a fan brush to paint trees?
No. You can practice leaf dabs and branches with ordinary flat and pointed brushes.