Tree, Part 3 = A paint job.

When I was doing research for my trees that would be around ____ ______ _______, I settled on 3 trees to put on the "property."  A paper birch, a black cherry and an american elm.  All big, green and beautiful.  They will fit the feel quite well.  When I do the unveiling in 5.5 months, I will explain to you why I chose these three trees.

A paper birch is very smooth in spots and very "peely" in others.  Since I am not skilled with the water putty yet, and wasn't sure if I could "shave" a "peel" off of it, I instead took the easy route.  I used little peels of paper and glued them on in no certain fashion, except, horizontally of course.  And under where each peel would have come from, I carved a little notch.

See the little pieces of paper?

And the painting process begins for the paper birch!  After I shaved off all the excess and was certain the tree was dry, I painted the whole tree a combination of Light Buttermilk by Americana and Parchment by Folkart, with just a hint of Dark Chocolate by Americana.

Back to white the poor little tree goes... well, off white technically, but a lot more white than the putty is. 

Then, I mixed my own dirty grey color using the three above and some Lamp (mars) Black by Americana.  This was dry brushed all over the tree; a little heavier in the nooks and crannies where the branches, well, branch out.  :D  I also took care to get all the little peels, too.  Couldn't have them sticking out all stark white now.  (Here is where my skill runs away from Brae's... I didn't take pictures of this part at all...)

Next step was to go back to all the little notches from the peels and to wash them several times with the brown and black, creating depth and bare bark.

 Lastly, I made little dirty dashes all over the tree.  It's by no means perfect, and perhaps a little dark, but I think it looks awesome!  Especially for my first tree.  :)

And here, is my little tree out on my back porch with all the big water oaks.  :)