Mystified by Painting Palm Trees

Triple Palm (c) Mary Hubley

Just Mystified.

Painting palm trees has always confounded me. Where I grew up in Philadelphia, trees were not spiky. Northern trees make sense to my mind. Southern trees are maniacal.

For the past 20 years, I've lived amongst the palms. I've sat and studied them. Still confounding. A basket-like bulge at the top holds a bouquet of blades like a messy teenager's hair, all pointing in an array of distractions.

The Structure of the Palm

In this painting, I tried to make sense of them. I watched them wave in the wind. I listened to them rustle and saw them change as the sun popped in and out of clouds. I painted. Blue sky, green palm-tops dancing in the wind.

What's the secret? 

Here it is: to really see them. Squint. Close one eye. Magic!

The complexities disappear. They are reduced to darks and lights. Paint that simplified version.


Genre: Landscape
Painting Name: Triple Palm
Size: 10" x 8"
Media: Acrylic on Canvas



-- Mary Hubley