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Acrylic Painting Tutorials

Tree & Sky Hole Assignment – Acrylic Landscape Course

Paint two quick tree studies using simple shapes and sky holes. Learn to simplify, use refraction, and build painterly confidence with acrylics.

Robert Joyner | Garage Studio Artist & Art Educator

Robert Joyner | Garage Studio Artist & Art Educator

— 3 min read
Tree & Sky Hole Assignment hero image

We’ve covered a lot so far — from simplifying shapes to understanding sky holes and refraction. Now it’s time to pull all those ideas together and put brush to canvas.

This Tree & Sky Hole Assignment is designed to help you practice painting believable tree structures without getting bogged down in too much detail. The goal is to stay loose, simplify, and focus on edges, sky holes, and value balance.

This lesson is part of the Acrylic Landscape Painting Fundamentals Course

Assignment Overview

Your Task: Paint two small studies using any of the reference photos below.
Don’t worry about finishing a complete landscape — just focus on the tree and its relationship with the sky.

What to Focus On

  • Simplify tree shapes into large, readable masses.
  • Paint sky holes darker than the surrounding sky to show refraction.
  • Use edge variety — mix hard and soft edges for natural transitions.
  • Keep your light and shadow planes clearly separated.
  • Avoid painting too many holes; a few well-placed ones go a long way.

This exercise helps you train your eye to simplify what you see rather than copying every branch or leaf.

Reference Photos

Each of these scenes offers a great chance to practice composition and sky hole control. Choose two that appeal to you most and aim for small, quick studies — about 6x8" or 8x10" in size.

Reference photo of a large tree beside a white barn, showing strong light and shadow patterns for practicing tree and sky hole painting.
Reference photo of a lone tree along a grassy path under soft light, ideal for studying simplified tree shapes and sky hole placement.
Landscape reference of a single tree in an open field with a distant barn, perfect for practicing balanced sky holes and vertical plane design.
Open field with hay bales and distant trees, showing clear spacing and simplified shapes for tree and sky hole painting exercises.

Tips for Success

  • Work fast and loose. Don’t overthink it.
  • If you get stuck, squint at your reference — it instantly simplifies values.
  • Keep paint mixtures clean; avoid muddying your greens.
  • Remember: this is practice, not a finished painting!

Next Lesson

Next Lesson: My Tree Assignment Part 1
Previous Lesson: Master's Analysis for Tree Painting
Continue the Course: Acrylic Landscape Painting for Beginners

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