#5 Birch Tree

Back when I lived in Michigan, I always looked forward to fall. It meant a few things: going back to school to learn with my friends all day, cool, crisp air, and fall fashion - and most memorable - the trees change color. Nature outgrows its monotonous green and expands its palette across the entire visible spectrum, and that makes for some great afternoon driving. If you've never been up in the northern US for the fall season, you're missing out.

For this tree, I experimented a little bit with Photoshop's vector shapes. It was a bit of a learning curve as I am so used to illustrator's vector workflow, but ultimately I got the result I wanted. After that, it was simply painting in greyscale until I was satisfied with the values, and then finishing with some color.

Another part of improving my work is making it better from the beginning - the sketches. The process is attached. Enjoy it!