A: Great question, man! You need to try to understand what it is to be a tree. How far you go with this is completely up to you, man. I once spent a week with my feet planted in a bucket of natural fertilizer, if you know what I mean. I was watered and fed by a lovely girl named Hazel. She was open-minded and luckily had almost no sense of smell. She was very dedicated to helping me learn about being a tree with a wood nymph living amongst my branches. Good times, man.
But, like I said, you don’t have to go that far. Just wander into the woods or a park. Hang out with the trees. Stare at them. They don’t mind, man. Feel the breeze moving their branches. Take your shoes off and wiggle your toes in the dirt. Get back to nature, man!
Now, paint what you felt while staring at the trees. Don’t worry about painting the most realistic tree. If you want ultra-realism just take a photograph, which is a valid art form in its own right, man, but we’re talking about painting. I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll repeat myself: have you seen the works of some of the great painters? Their people don’t look like people. Their stars don’t look like stars. And their trees sure as heck don’t look like trees. They are seeing the world with their souls, man, and that’s what they’re painting. Pretty trippy, right?
The way to paint awesome trees is to be awesome and paint trees. Don’t let anyone put restrictions on your art. Pick your own colors. Paint your own shapes. Throw off the shackles of rules and just create!
