Sure, the tree in the photo here isn't the world's most fabulous painting of a tree, but it's one more tree than I'd painted the day before and in some not-yet-discerned way will contribute to the tree or landscape with trees I'll paint tomorrow. As Art & Fear says:

"The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars."

It's a tree I painted to write a new step-by-step demo to encourage anyone thinking about painting a tree to pick up a brush and try it. The demo includes a photo of how not to paint branches. I'll leave it to you to decide whether I deliberately or inadvertently painted the branches that way...

• How to Paint a Realistic Tree
• Forest Painting in the Style of Klimt

^{Image © 2011 Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc.}

Given the associations of the word mother with "birth" and "nurturing", the concept of a mother color doesn't take that much unpacking (though implementing it successfully in a painting takes a bit of time). A mother color is one you use in every mixed color in a particular painting, whether as the dominant basis for a color or adding just a touch into a mix. The reasoning behind it is that a mother color harmonizes a composition.

It's a technique I've used occasionally, but I'm more likely to use a very limited palette. If you're an oil painter, scraping together all the leftover paint on your palette and mixing it together is an economical way to create a mother color.

Poll: Do You Use a Mother Color?
(Vote by simply clicking on your choice in the list)
1. Yes, for ages
2. Yes, but I hadn't realized the technique had a name
3. Occasionally
4. I've not heard of the concept before
5. I knew about it, but haven't ever tried it
6. No, I don't like the results
7. Something else (post a comment to tell us)
(View the results of this poll so far...)

Don't toss out an brush because it's worn down, it still has its uses, if not for the type of mark making you'd done originally. A worn-out, stiff-hair brush is great for vigorous scumbling without worrying you're going to ruin a good brush.

^{Photo © M Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc}

All the walls in the studio above were painted with the same white paint, so why don't they look the same color? The answer is: Daylight vs Lightbulbs.

^{Image © 2011 Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc.}