Mass
MassSky holes
A few irregular gaps near the edge of the canopy, shaped like the spaces between fingers, with a branch crossing the largest. Three make a tree breathe; twelve make a sponge.
Where foliage clumps fail to meet, sky shows through. These holes are what make a canopy read as a volume you could walk under instead of a flat cut-out. They happen most at the edges of the mass, where the clumps are smaller, and rarely in the dense centre. They are irregular, different sizes, and usually a branch or twig crosses the larger ones.
Make them by lifting with a shaped kneaded eraser after the mass is laid, not by leaving white paper from the start. Lifted holes have soft, slightly ragged edges, exactly like the real thing. Then darken the foliage immediately around each hole a touch; the contrast is what makes the hole read as sky.
Three or four good holes are enough for a whole tree. Evenly scattered round holes are the most common beginner tell after the lollipop silhouette.
From your kit
The whole kit →- 1Mono Zero, clean a sky hole is drawn with the eraser, not left.
- 2Pitt Matt 8B the canopy mass you will lift from.
Visuals
Pitfalls
What
Holes in the dense centre of the canopy.
Why
The centre is the thickest part; light does not get through there.
Fix
Fill them. Move the holes toward the edges.