There’s something about flowering trees that makes me want to paint them! A few years ago when I was doing plein air oil painting, a beautiful pink crab apple tree stopped me in my tracks and I just had to paint it. I set up my easel and got to work. Here was the result:
I love the cascade of blooms, heavy on the branches, and I love watching the light bounce off the blooms, creating dark and light values of pink and hot pink. Unfortunately, the blooms don’t last very long, and soon they are covering the sidewalks and driveways like confetti snow. I am lucky to have a couple flowering crab apple trees in my back yard and every spring I watch them develop small buds that eventually burst into riotous color. When it’s cold, they are clamped shut, but after a few days of warmth and sun, the buds start to open and you know they are going to full-throttle bloom in the coming days. I sat on my back porch yesterday and sketched my tree. I know they won’t last long, so I had to get them down on paper!
