Log p93 Trees

                                               

This large flowering cherry is situated in my garden at home. It is very old and quite magnificent but also has a delicate foliage and graceful habit. I set up the easel in the garden after making several sketches and tired to capture its elegance. Also this tree has a really large trunk and the typical cherry features of shiny bands round about the trunk although being so old these are more gnarled than they once were. I tried to bring the tree forward by heavy shading behind one side and tried to indicate its depth and roundness by adding darker tone to the right hand side. Definitely missing though I think is any sense of scale-the trunk does show some of this but an object or person would help to give the tree its proper majesty. I also found it hard to be near enough to see detail but at the same time being far enough away to get size. This is where the preliminary sketches come in but still I found it difficult with such a large tree.

I sketched several trees including conifer and palm trees whilst on holiday. In each case I tried to see what was distinctive about the shape of the overall tree and the way the branches hung as well as the type of foliage. What I find most difficult is getting the simplified and overall tone on the tree. Squinting does help to isolate the larger shapes but these still need to be simplified to save lots of little tonal areas that are messy.

Reading Doreen Roberts book 'Drawing Workshop' I saw that she asked her tutor once how to draw trees. She said his reply was 'well, this week I'm doing it like this... last week I did it like this... and next week I might do it like this...' following each with a quick scribble. She says she realised he was saying find out for yourself and this advice she passes on to her readers. So lots more practice required.

In drawing this clump of trees I was looking for an area that would show a large foreground tree together with some smaller trees further back. This view also conveniently provided a small path going into the wood. I wanted to show that some trees were dark against their background and that some were light against their background as well as the fading colour of the trees further back. Most of the trees were very upright and I felt it needed some horizontals to alleviate this which I added at home. However, I felt quite nervous being in the wood alone with many strange noises and this didn't help concentration. Next time I'll take a friend along with me.