Albert Handell is known for painting trees and landscapes in pastel and oil; he teaches nationally and internationally, and is on the faculty of the upcoming Pastel Live online conference, September 17-19, 2025, with an optional Essential Techniques Day on September 16.
By Albert Handell
I strongly believe that if you’re going to paint trees, you should do as much as you can on location. Start by simply panning in on a small area — a group of trees or even part of a tree — as if you were painting a portrait or still life. Painting outside, with all of nature before you, can make all the difference in your work.
I find inspiration in the inner rhythms of nature — the branching patterns of trees, for example. When I first started painting, I looked at each branch and thought about where to place it in comparison to others. Now, I see an interesting twist in a tree, and I focus on that.
I think less about getting the measurements right, and more about the rhythm or movement within the tree, from a flutter of leaves at the top to branches that get thicker or thinner as I move down the trunk.
Varying my colors, strokes, and the pressure I use on the sticks, I make marks and react to them. Each stroke carries the feeling of the natural movement and structure of the tree. The subject comes to life with scarcely a scrap of detail.
When I started working on landscapes, I was in Woodstock, New York; this was from 1970 to 1983. I couldn’t wait until the greens of summer disappeared so I could see the skeletons of my trees. I went out in the fall and winter to draw them with pencil on two-ply Bristol board, one right after the other. And that’s how I was able to really get into trees and understand them so well.
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