Watercolor Birch Trees

It’s cold and snowy here in New England. I find myself reaching more and more for my watercolor paints. Today I’m sharing some pretty watercolor birch trees and how you can paint them at home!

Silver Birch Trees have such a magical look, especially in winter with snow and against a blue sky! They’re tall skinny trunks make them a great beginner watercolor project.

I thought it would be fun to show you several ways to paint birch trees with watercolor. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, light a candle and grab your watercolor supplies! I’ll outline all the supplies used below, but if you missed my Must Have Watercolor Supplies you might want to check that out!

Watercolor with palettes and paintings of birch trees

I love painting in our light filled sunroom with soft music playing. Okay, let’s get ready to have some fun.

Jump to Tutorial Card

3 Ways to Paint Watercolor Birch Trees

Birch Tree paintings with candle, paint brushes, and paints on white background

I’m breaking this project down into three different techniques:

  • The first one uses Masking Fluid to mask off areas of white which will be come the trees. This makes painting the sky background easier because you can wash over it, but I think it gives you a little less control with with white trees.
  • Version 2 – is sketching out the all the tree trunks with a black Micron pen and then painting around them with the sky color.
  • The 3rd version is using the Micron pen to create the trees but also adding some salt while the watercolor paint is still wet. It creates a subtle icy / snowy look to the paper. See the close up image below:
Close up Birch Tree painting with salt texture.

Why You’ll Love This Watercolor Tutorial

  • It’s a great beginner project!
  • Any mistakes can be fixed with this loose method.
  • Painting birch trees is so relaxing.
Snowy birch tree painting with paint brush and scrap paper

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What You Need to Paint Watercolor Birch Trees

Birch tree watercolor paintings iwth paint palettes, candle, dried florals on white background

I created a video tutorial and I’m including a step by step card at the bottom of this post. You may want to watch the video through first before attempting your own trees to see which method appeals to you the most or you can try all three!

How to Paint Watercolor Birch Trees

Using Masking Fluid to Create Birch Trees

Birch tree paintings and watercolor palette
  1. Tape edges of watercolor paper onto a table or hard surface. Be sure to press the tape firmly.
  2. Lightly with a pencil draw the tree trunks. You can lighten lines by pressing a kneaded eraser over the lines.
  3. Using a cheaper paint brush, apply masking fluid inside the tree trunks, so they remain white. You can also get masking fluids in pen form. Alternatively you could use washi tape for this too if you don’t have masking fluid. Allow masking fluid to dry fully.
  4. Apply a wash of blue. I used a mixture of Indigo, Ultramarine and a hint of Black. While still wet you can drop in colors and layer for deeper effect. Allow to dry.
  5. Carefully remove the masking fluid from the tree trunks. Remove by gently rubbing the area. 
  6. Time to paint the tree trunks. I start with a light watery mix of gray and go up the left side of the tree. Then I drop in dark hues. I also run smaller lines along the right side making them curve. Once dry I apply thicker paint in black to give more definition and detail.
  7. Using a Micron Pen draw branches and some more detailed lines to the trunks of the trees.
  8. Apply dots using Posca Pens and Gelly Roll Pens. This will appear to look like a snowy sky.
  9. Carefully, remove washi tape and enjoy your painting!

Using a Micron Pen to Create Birch Trees

Birch Tree paintings with scrap paper, candle, and painting materials
  1. Tape edges of watercolor paper onto a table or hard surface. Be sure to press the tape firmly.
  2. Draw the shapes of the tree trunks with a Micron pen in black size .005.
  3. Apply a wash of the blue. You can use any colors but I used cerulean. While still wet you can drop in colors and layer for deeper effect. I dropped in some Windsor violet. You need to work in sections with this version. Be careful not to paint over the white tree trunks. Allow to dry.
  4. Using the same method as before – paint the tree trunks. I start with a light watery mix of gray and go up the left side of the tree. Then I drop in dark hues. I also run smaller lines along the right side making them curve. Once dry I apply thicker paint in black to give more definition and detail.
  5. Using a Micron Pen draw branches and some more detailed lines to the trunks of the trees.
  6. Carefully remove the washi tape and enjoy your painting.

Create an effect with Salt

Close up on Birch Tree painting with salt added.
  1. Follow all the directions in Version 2 but while the background color is still wet apply salt to the wet paint. It will work as a paint resist and make it look frosting on the paper.
  2. Once the paint is dry carefully remove the salt by gently rubbing with your finger. Then carry on with painting the rest of the painting.
Watercolor birch trees and painting palette.

Painting with Watercolor – Your Questions Answered

What is masking fluid and do I need to use it?

Masking fluid is a latex based fluid used to block out small areas in watercolor. It comes as a liquid you can paint on or they also make masking fluid pens. Air can contaminate the masking fluid making it clumpy so you really want to pour it out into a separate container. I know in the video I painted it from the tube. You want to remove the masking fluid before it bonds to the paper – before 48 hours, but for our purposes here you will want to remove it quickly – once it’s dry and the background is dry. Heat can also make the masking fluid bond tighter to the paper. If you leave it on too long you it can rip your paper when trying to remove it.

What is the difference between pan and tube watercolors?

As you can see I use both pans and tubes, but I’m most comfortable with tubes. These come out soft already and I squeeze them into a palette that has a lid. The pans need to be softened with water. I think it comes down to personal preference.

What is Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors?

Kuretake paints are professional grade Japanese watercolor and I’ve just started experimenting with them this month. The colors are more saturated and more opaque. You’ll need an enamel tray to mix these on.

How does the Salt react with the Watercolor?

When salt is sprinkled on wet watercolor the salt acts as a type of resist – making where the salt touches the paint to be lighter. Be sure to allow the paint to dry fully before removing the salt. It can have a great effect.

Can I speed up the drying process?

Yes, I’m very impatient and quite often speed up drying time with a hair dryer. Be sure to set it on cool. If the paper is too wet though it can blow the paint around.

How can I prevent the paper from buckling?

You can use watercolor paper on a block pad (that is essentially glued on all sides – for example this Arches block) or you can tape your paper to the table or cardboard surface using washi tape.

What does wet on wet mean?

A wet on wet technique is when you wet the paper and add color or you wet a certain part of the paper (like the side of the tree) and drop in color. The paint will feather and have a soft edge. You can mix colors when the paint is still wet.

Want to Paint More?

Here are more watercolor tutorials I’ve done

Be sure to pin this for later:

Paintings of birch trees and watercolor palette with pin image
Print
5 from 1 vote

How to Paint Watercolor Birch Trees

This easy and fun tutorial will show you how to paint birch trees in three ways and also includes a video.
Active Time15 minutes
Keyword: birch trees, painting tutorial, watercolor tutorial
Yield: 3 paintings

Equipment

  • Hair Dryer optional – speed up drying time

Materials

  • Watercolor Paper I used both Canson XL Watercolor Paper and Fabriano Watercolor Post Cards – both are affordable
  • Watercolor Brushes Size round 4 and 6, flat brush
  • Clean Water
  • Paper Towels
  • Scrap Paper Use to test colors
  • Masking Fluid I used Windsor and Newton but you can also get pen type
  • Cheaper Brush To apply Masking Fluid – don't use good watercolor brush.
  • Micron Pen in black size .005
  • Posca Pens various sizes in white
  • Gelly Roll Pens various sizes in white
  • Washi Tape
  • Enamel Tray if using Kuretake Paints
  • Coarse Salt optional

Watercolor Paints

  • Payne's Gray Daniel Smith
  • Cerulean Blue Windsor Newton
  • Windsor Violet Windsor Newton
  • Kuretake Tambai Watercolors in Black, Ultramarine, & Indigo

Instructions

Version 1 with Masking Fluid

  • Tape edges of watercolor paper onto a table or hard surface. Be sure to press the tape firmly.
  • Lightly with a pencil draw the tree trunks. You can lighten lines by pressing a kneaded eraser over the lines.
  • Using a cheaper paint brush, apply masking fluid inside the tree trunks, so they remain white. You can also get masking fluids in pen form. Alternatively you could use washi tape for this too if you don’t have masking fluid. Allow masking fluid to dry fully.
  • Apply a wash of blue. I used a mixture of Indigo, Ultramarine and a hint of Black. While still wet you can drop in colors and layer for deeper effect. Allow to dry.
  • Carefully remove the masking fluid from the tree trunks. Remove by gently rubbing the area.
  • Time to paint the tree trunks. I start with a light watery mix of gray and go up the left side of the tree. Then I drop in dark hues. I also run smaller lines along the right side making them curve. Once dry I apply thicker paint in black to give more definition and detail.
  • Using a Micron Pen draw branches and some more detailed lines to the trunks of the trees.
  • Apply dots using Posca Pens and Gelly Roll Pens. This will appear to look like a snowy sky.
  • Carefully, remove washi tape and enjoy your painting!

Version 2 with Micron Pen

  • Tape edges of watercolor paper onto a table or hard surface. Be sure to press the tape firmly.
  • Draw the shapes of the tree trunks with a Micron pen in black size .005.
  • Apply a wash of blue. You can use any colors but I used cerulean. While still wet you can drop in colors and layer for deeper effect. I dropped in some Windsor violet. You need to work in sections with this version. Be careful not to paint over the white tree trunks. Allow to dry.
  • Using the same method as before – paint the tree trunks. I start with a light watery mix of gray and go up the left side of the tree. Then I drop in dark hues. I also run smaller lines along the right side making them curve. Once dry I apply thicker paint in black to give more definition and detail.
  • Using a Micron Pen draw branches and some more detailed lines to the trunks of the trees.
  • Carefully remove the washi tape enjoy.

Video

Notes

Version 3 – using salt with watercolor.
Follow all the directions in Version 2 but while the background color is still wet apply salt to the wet paint. It will work as a paint resist and make it look frosting on the paper. Once the paint is dry carefully remove the salt by gently rubbing with your finger. Then carry on with painting the rest of the painting.
Ideas for using your watercolors :
  • Frame and hang or display in your home
  • Scan them to create a pattern or digital printable
  • Create cards celebrating winter or winter holidays.

Did you paint these watercolor birch trees? If so, let me know!

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4 Comments
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Janeen Culhane
Janeen Culhane
2 years ago

I learned so much!! Thank you!!

Josette
Josette
2 years ago

5 stars
Hi Danielle,
Wonderful tutorial!!! You make it look so easy. I think I can give these a shot. On the part where the trees look like it is shaded, did you just use the dirty water? I hope that is not a dumb question! You are a good, easy to follow teacher…keep it up!!! Thank you!!!