Learning to Paint Sakura Trees: My Attempt at a 10-Minute Painting Tutorial

One of my favorite ways to improve as an artist is by following painting tutorials. They push me to try subjects I wouldn't normally paint, teach me new techniques, and remind me that every painting—successful or not—is a learning experience.

This time, I painted a peaceful sakura (cherry blossom) landscape.

Did it turn out like the tutorial?

Not even close.

Did I learn a lot?

Absolutely.

Another "10-Minute" Painting That Took an Hour

I've been working through a series of "10-minute painting" tutorials lately, although I have yet to finish one anywhere close to ten minutes.

This painting took me under an hour.

Honestly, I'm okay with that.

The goal isn't speed. The goal is learning.

If I finish a painting and gain a better understanding of acrylics, that's time well spent.

Keeping the Color Palette Simple

One thing I've enjoyed about these tutorials is how few colors they require.

For this painting, I only used:

• Primary Red
• Primary Blue
• Mars Black
• Titanium White
• Burnt Umber

That's it.

I've been choosing tutorials with limited color palettes on purpose.

For one thing, I paint in my living room, so I don't want twenty tubes of paint spread across every available surface.

More importantly, working with fewer colors forces me to mix my own shades instead of relying on pre-made colors. It's challenging, but it's also one of the best ways to improve as a painter.

A Strong Start

The painting began with the sky.

Thankfully, this was  my favorite part of the entire piece.

The gradient blended nicely from dark to light, creating a soft evening atmosphere that matched the tutorial surprisingly well.

Sometimes the beginning of a painting gives you a little confidence boost.

I was feeling pretty optimistic at this point.

Painting the Water

Next came the water.

One thing I learned quickly is that smooth water effects require... well... a lot of water.

I had to thin my acrylic paint much more than I normally would. Once I did that, it flowed much more easily across the canvas and created softer blends.

Looking back, I think my water ended up a little darker than the reference painting.

That would come back to haunt me later.

The Cherry Blossoms

Now came the challenging part.

The sakura trees.

This is where my painting started drifting away from the original tutorial.

The biggest issue?

Value.

The blossoms in my painting were simply too dark.

Because the foreground and background ended up being similar values, everything started blending together. Instead of creating depth, the trees all seemed to merge into one large shape.

It wasn't exactly the effect I was hoping for.

Choosing the Wrong Brush

Sometimes the problem isn't your technique.

Sometimes it's your tools.

When I started adding the blossoms, I realized I had chosen the wrong brush for the job.

Instead of creating soft, natural-looking clusters of flowers, the brush produced marks that felt too heavy and uniform.

I reached for a paper towel repeatedly, trying to soften the shapes and remove excess paint.

It helped a little, but not enough to completely fix the issue.

Lesson learned.

Next time I'll choose a different brush from the beginning.

Learning to Paint Tree Trunks

The tree trunks taught me another lesson.

My first attempt didn't work very well because the paint wasn't diluted enough.

Once I added more water to the burnt umber, everything became much easier. The paint flowed naturally and created much more convincing tree branches.

Sometimes the smallest adjustments make the biggest difference.

When Everything Turns into Mud

There comes a moment in some paintings where you look at the canvas and think:

"Oh no..."

This was one of those moments.

As I kept adding blossoms, the foreground and background started blending into one another.

Instead of distinct trees with depth, everything became a blocky mass of pinks and browns.

At that point, the goal shifted from creating the perfect painting to simply figuring out how to rescue it.

Trying to Save the Painting

Rather than giving up, I started experimenting.

I added lighter colors to the background, hoping to push it farther away.

I darkened parts of the foreground to create more separation.

Then I looked at the reflection in the water.

It still didn't quite work.

So I mixed an extremely watered-down blue with just a tiny touch of black and carefully glazed over parts of the painting.

Interestingly, it worked fairly well in the sky.

The water...

Not so much.

The paint dried faster than I expected, leaving behind a visible line that I wasn't thrilled with.

Sometimes acrylic paint has its own plans.

Comparing My Painting to the Tutorial

By the end, I had two paintings sitting side by side:

The original tutorial.

And my version.

There was definitely a noticeable difference.

The tutorial had stronger contrast, better depth, and much more convincing separation between the foreground and background.

Mine wasn't there yet.

But that's okay.

The goal wasn't to outperform the instructor.

The goal was to learn from someone more experienced.

And in that sense, the painting was a success.

Looking at the Finished Piece

After everything was finished, I stepped back and really looked at it.

You know what?

It's actually not that bad.

Sure, I can point out plenty of mistakes.

I know where I would lighten the blossoms, strengthen the shadows, and improve the reflections.

But despite all of that, it's still a pleasant little painting.

And every time I finish one of these tutorials, I gain a little more confidence for the next one.

Final Thoughts

One of the biggest lessons I've learned from these painting challenges is that failure isn't something to avoid.

It's something to study.

Every painting that doesn't quite work teaches me more than the ones that come together effortlessly.

This sakura landscape wasn't perfect.

It wasn't even close.

But I learned about color mixing, brush selection, water consistency, reflections, and, once again, just how important value is when creating depth.

I'll  revisit this painting someday and see how much I've improved.

That's one of the best parts of keeping your old artwork—you get to watch your own progress.

Have you ever followed a painting tutorial and ended up with something different from the instructor's version? I'd love to hear about your experiences. Sometimes those "happy little accidents" teach us the most.

Until next time, stay spooky, keep creating, and don't be afraid to paint outside your comfort zone. 🎨🌸👻