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Sap green is a warm, semitransparent green that mixes well with semiopaque whites to create a yellowy leaf green, as seen on young willow leaves. This pigment tends to appear and behave differently depending on the quality of the pigment color, changing its transparency, tinting strength, and color note. You may need to try out a few brands to find the one that works best for you. I prefer sap green lake extra (Old Holland), which is a lake color (originally a dye converted to a pigment). It is warm, but not as yellowy as other sap greens.

Like viridian, you can alter sap green by adding warm reds that generate a toasty brownish hue or adding raw umber (Old Holland) to help cool and darken the color note. You can also cool sap green by adding ultramarine violet (Rembrandt), which helps maintain the transparent quality of each pigment. Green umber (Old Holland), like Courbet green (Williamsburg), is practically pine-trees-in-a-tube! This is a handy pigment to have for a rich, cool, and dark green. Adding white to it creates a neutral cool green. However, the addition of yellow tends to muddy the color, rather than create a warm variation. Try orange instead to sour the color note. Further addition of a blue pigment can increase the sense of deep shadows in dark conifer trees.