How to Color a Tree (+ Free Download)

Discover how to bring your tree drawings to life with our easy-to-follow coloring tips. Start creating nature's beauty on your drawing device or even on paper...!

The bark is brown and the leaves are green... Done! Well, obviously there's more to it. This tutorial would turn out to be too short!

Like with everything, you can make a ham and cheese sandwich or cook an elaborate recipe for seared scallops and baby spinach with spiced pomegranate glaze... Both dishes could be called "dinner", just the same... I actually prefer the sandwich, though... Well, you get the analogy (I hope...)!

Free Download

I know what you came here for... And I understand. I'm not hurt by it, no! I know it's not personal... A free download is too tempting to pass on! Reading a random guy's article on the other hand... Not as enticing, I guess...!

So, without farther ado: In this downloadable PDF and video tutorial you'll find 4 distinct tree coloring styles that utilize different brushes and shading techniques to fill these trees up to the brim (to the bark?) with character!

Did You Know?

I'm glad you decided to continue reading this random copywriter's ramblings... I won't ramble any longer, I promise! I instead will offer you some interesting facts about trees and what their color signifies... Are you still here? I can't hear you or see you, my beloved readers... I'm deaf and I'm blind, alone under a weeping tree's shade... Okey, enough with the maundering!

1. The yellows and oranges are always present, they're just hidden

The beautiful yellows, oranges, and rusty browns that we associate with autumn are present in leaves year-round, but the pigments are just outnumbered. Chlorophyll dominates them all...! What a weird sentence... Chlorophyll is the pigment that makes the leaves green, by the way! A reminder from middle school biology class that you will never need in your life!

2. We are attracted to contrast

This explains a lot...! Anyways, back to trees: Why is it that we find fall foliage so exceptionally beautiful? Some psychologists think it’s because we are hardwired to appreciate visual contrasts. According to Psychology Today, the attraction begins in infancy and continues into adulthood... Okey, where are we going with this...?

The theory is that seasonal change is dramatic, which causes us to subconsciously infer meaning into it over time... Wow, I didn't know I was secretly that smart...! Thanks Psychology Today, we'll see about psychology tomorrow...

3. What happens to all those fallen leaves?

Needles and leaves decompose and restock the soil with nutrients absorbing and holding rainfall. Fallen leaves also become food for numerous soil organisms vital to the forest ecosystem. It could well be that the forest could no more survive without its annual replenishment from leaves than the individual tree could survive without shedding these leaves...

Wow, you made it so far into the article! I might be tempted to believe that my subtle (and not so subtle) puns kept you wanting more... But, perhaps you just wanted more free downloads... Which is understandable... I know it's nothing personal. At least I hope so!

In Domestika we have so many tutorials, you will never be able to finish them all in a million years... Do you like the reverse psychology at play here... Does it still work if I mention it?:

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