Final steps for watercolor painting of gum tree

Add some Burnt Sienna to a little of the dark green and use this to paint in some of the smaller branches as in Figure 15.

Using some of the brown color mixed in Figure 14, paint in some smaller branches.  You want to do this while the foliage is still wet so that some of the branch color blends with the green in a natural looking way.  The two bigger branches I added (one on the left and the other on the right were placed in with a much lighter mix of the brown (by adding water to the mix); if they appear to strong, just lift some color out before they dry.

Some final steps you could include to finish off your painting are:

If some sections of your foliage have lost too many gaps you can scratch some in with your fingernail.  You can do the same to hint at branch shapes.  You would only do this if you need to break up a shape because it is too flat and large.

Use some dry brush stokes to add dark bark to the bottom of the tree trunk as well as other parts of your tree that you feel need them. I did this in Figure 16; I also did some dry brush under the branch on the right to help connect it with the main trunk.

You can also add some dead branches to the tree to help direct the eye to some part of the painting, in this case there is a branch directing the eye to the cows.

The painting is now finished.

This demonstration is for a fairly simple tree in a landscape, obviously if you are going to make the tree into more of a feature you may need additional details and colors, but hopefully this article will get you well on your way to painting gum (Eucalyptus) trees.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I can be contacted through my Contact page.