I love doing paintings of olive trees. Several years ago I was commissioned to paint a client’s property in Italy.
As part of the research for the commission, I made some studies in my leather-bound sketchbook of the olive grove that surrounded their house in Umbria.
Over the years I’ve enjoyed painting some of the olive trees at Chiesa del Carmine on our Painting Holidays. It’s a great exercise for the guests because they are relatively easy to draw. Their distinctive snarled branches can be drawn with character, particularly when the sun is striking them. I enjoy drawing them with either a biro or a fountain pen which means I can vary the thickness of line. This adds more interest to the drawing.
It was a friends 60th birthday recently so I painted her a handmade card of the scene based on the location watercolour. It was another opportunity to paint olive trees! She was so thrilled with her card that she had it framed to add it to her collection.
To find out more about commissioning handmade cards of special places for a loved one go to the commissions page on my website.
More paintings of Olive Trees and paintings of Italy can be seen on alanreed.com and at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland, Northumberland.
If you would like to have a go at painting olive trees, why not book a painting holiday in Italy. Or I can give you some tuition at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.