Project 1-Trees

Exercise 1 and 2
Sketching individual trees and Larger observational study of an individual tree.

For this exercise I took myself and some basic drawing supplies to the Lickey Hills, a vast source for a variety of trees. I had a fine liner pen and a pencil to capture the many trees I saw on my walk.

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For my first sketch of a pair of trees I used cross hatching and line in an attempt to capture both the basic shape of the tree and the tone. I found this effective in creating a rough texture to the tree without actually defining any texture. For Drawing 2 I kept a focus on the shape and structure of the tree. It helped me to think about the shapes and lines that make up a tree, I feel some branches were too curved and I should use a drawing style that really defines the angles within the branches. I was happy with the outcome. I wanted to try out some sketches with a fine liner pen as its a simple drawing tool I haven’t really experimented with yet and could provide an interesting take on tone by building up layers of tone and cross hatching.

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I really preferred using a black, fine liner pen over the pencil, I felt this medium worked better at creating a striking sketch on the page and really emphasised the rough feel of the trees and again really helped to create a rough, uneven texture without any definitive detail. I really love how this came out, I enjoyed playing around with the foliage, using squiggles and cross hatching to hint at and give the leaves a presence while also keeping the focus on the body of the tree, which is what I wanted to do. I feel that this time around I really improved at capturing the twisting shapes of the branches and depicting the trees shape accurately.

For my third pen drawing I wanted to try something different and came across this broken tree. It was an unusual shape to capture compared to the trees I have looked at previously and I wanted to give it a go. I found the new smooth texture of the wood inside the tree could be depicted by keeping my lines in an upward motion, showing how the texture was smooth in comparison to the tree bark on the outside. I was also now taking the roots into consideration and I found them harder to capture than branches, as it was hard to show them crawling into the Earth, as roots do, compared to how branches flow out into the sky. I feel that aspect of drawing trees could use some work moving forward, but I felt I was ready to tackle Exercise 2 and produce a larger scale drawing of a tree.

Exercise 2- Larger observational study of an individual tree

I decided to go with the composition I looked at with my preliminary sketches with pen drawing 1. I liked the angle from underneath and the sign on the tree, as it hints at the environment which will be absent from the drawing. I began by drawing lines that make up the shape of the tree before adding tone in the form of crosshatching. I kept my tonal approach light when forming the knots present in the tree or places where the bark had fallen off. I decided to try something new that I hadn’t looked at in my preliminary sketches. I layered a squiggly, random pattern on top of the cross hatching in an attempt to depict the texture of the tree bark. I think the pattern does hint at the tree bark texture and a rough texture being present, however I do not think it accurately depicts the texture of tree bark, but rather hints at its presence. I think this still works and adds intrigue into the technical aspect of the drawing. For the foliage, I wasn’t sure what approach to take, but I decided to go with what I used in my preliminary sketches, and kept them loose to create a juxtaposition between the hard, rigid tree and the soft delicate texture of leaves. I think looking back I should have played around with the tonal aspect of the foliage a bit more, adding more areas of darkness to fit into the body of the tree a bit more. My approach to the foliage does however keep the focus on the tree and its textures, but I feel my loose approach makes the leaves feel not as much as part of the tree and in hind sight may not have been the bets approach to take. Moving forward I should really play around with my depiction of foliage, how the light hits it and how it fits into the composition of a tree. With Exercise 3, looking at a group of trees, I should be able to play around with the concept of foliage more and get to a place where my drawings really capture every aspect of a tree. I am very happy with how I have been able to portray the wooden body of a tree and would to be more experimental with my media choice moving forward.