I’m taking a short detour from my old shed painting to work on an interesting tree painting. It’s a grayscale with eventually a spot of color. Where the color will be is the question, but I have an idea.

Today I finished the sky. In a few days, or whenever I get the next chance, it’ll be the ground. The tree will go in after that. And the likeliest spot for the color will be the grass around the base of the tree. I could make the fence in front of it the color, but that wouldn’t show up as well as the grass would. So I think it’ll be the grass.

Of course, since I don’t have a good green pigment source for green grass, I’ll use a little of the outsourced pigment to make the color I need. It’ll be combined with the earthier Ozark pigments I have. This will keep the colors in keeping with my usual palette.

Interesting Tree Painting in Progress

What’s the difference between an ‘interesting tree’ painting, and a ‘twisted tree’ painting? An interesting tree is representational and will be more or less realistic, depending.

A twisted tree is one from my imagination, and almost always have features not ordinarily found in real trees. The landscape could be fantastical, or the tree itself could be, or it could be anthropomorphic.

Commissions are Open

The times I get to work on them are sporadic, so not open to anything with a tight deadline. But if you are able to allow the time it will take (anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months, depending on complexity), I’m open. Email me if interested: madison@wildozark.com and let me know what you have in mind.

I’ll write back to give you an estimate on how long it might take, and offer a few different contract options.

The interesting tree painting I’m working on now is an example of one from the first tier in my contracts. It allows me to publish the work in progress and retain my right to make derivatives. Buyer has rights over the physical original, but no derivatives for profit or business (can’t make copies to sell or use in business applications, but can sell, gift, or destroy, but not alter and call it their own, the original if they choose).

For an idea of prices, a 9 x 12″ commissioned work is $700 on the first tier. I go down to 4 x 6″ and as large as 24 x 36″. Size does affect the price, but doesn’t necessarily affect the timeline to finish. Some small ones take longer than some larger ones. It just depends on the complexity of the scene. And grayscales usually take less time.