We’ve slowed down Bill’s technique so you can see, in exquisite detail, how he creates his tree branches with the foliage brush. Notice how he barely touches the canvas. He lets the canvas pull the paint off the brush – something he mentions many times in his videos. (We first noticed that idea while watching one of Diane Andre’s videos.)
Most artists, beginners especially, smash the brush too hard into the canvas and lose the tree leaf effect.
Notice, also how the paint stands on the canvas. This creates Bill’s signature “3-D” effect. In some of his larger paintings, he uses so much paint you want to reach out and touch the canvas. But don’t you dare!
It is interesting to see how he leads with the far corner of the bristles, and bends them down the direction in which he wants the branch to lay. I take it that this slight bending is what gives the mark its beautiful and characteristic “elongated cluster” look? Without the bending, the stroke creates a scattered, hazy mark -somewhat like a mist, or a weak cloud. When it is wrong, it is an altogether unattractive mark in my experience.
Can you show a video of how he loaded the brush just prior to applying the foliage highlights please?