Category Archives: Project 1: Trees

Exercise 3: Study of several trees

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For this exercise I was asked to work in a wood or to study a group of trees.  I was on holiday in Croatia at the time and found a beautiful clearing by a wooded area. 

I decided I still wanted to look at Odilon Redons work and try to capture some of his mood and emotion in my own work. 

I worked a2 size and used charcoal.  I drew the scene out very roughly in biro first so I could sus out the logistics of where everything goes. This proved to be a mistake as the blue biro next to the black charcoal clearly doesn’t work so I would not do this again. 

I felt quite overwhelmed by the large a2 sized paper and throughout my drawing wished I was working smaller. 

I tried to distinguish different  species of tree from another by using different marks and by pressing harder or lighter on my charcoal stick, I also experimented with putting my charcoal stick on its side or using a pencil sharpener to sharpen it in order to create wider or thinner lines. 

I tried to handle light areas by leaving areas blank from the white of my page or by using my putty rubber (sometimes this would just smudge my work though and look quite ineffective.) 

Just like my last tree drawing I found it difficult to keep up with where all of the branches went and how they all interacted with each other I found myself getting confused quickly . In the end I just tried to get a feel of the overall direction they were going in. I also decided to stop worrying too much about making sure each branch was exact and instead tried to aim towards creating an atmosphere of the scene just like Odilon Redon manages to do. 

Overall I am generally pleased with my drawing. I do think that I managed to create an atmosphere and a mood, (maybe not quite to the same extent as Odilin Redons work) but it is a start I feel. 

However there are plenty of areas of my drawing that could do with improvement. Some areas of my drawing have lines which are too heavy. There are also areas that look clumsy and too deliberate. There are also areas of my drawing that have been overworked and just appear as quite messy and un refined. Also as I mentioned before my use of blue biro doesn’t work at all.

I think in future I need to keep my lines light and thin and then work up into creating tone, in order to avoid clumsy heavy lines. I also think I should avoid mixing my media’s for a while until my use of form and lines improves at least.

I did really enjoy this exercise and I am starting to become more aware of how I can improve my work and where I am going wrong.

Exercise 2: Larger observational study of an individual tree

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For this exercise I was asked to spend some more time really looking at my tree in detail. I was asked to spend at least an hour on this drawing. 

The media I chose to work with was charcoal. In some of my past drawings my charcoal work hasn’t been too effective and I wanted to rectify this. Especially after studying  Odilon Redons work earlier on in the course with his dramatic use of tonal contrasts. 

I worked A3 size on white paper. I decided to focus in on a smaller area of the tree, the splitting of the trunk into two branches. This is always the area that fascinates me the most, where the trunk divides. I also feel that focusing on a smaller section of the tree where I can really observe the small detail will help me in the long term when I come to drawing the entire tree. 
I found this exercise difficult as I kept getting lost in the detail and where everything was positioned. The problem with so much detail was I seemed to get confused easily. 

Overall I am pleased with my drawing. It seemed such a daunting task when I started especially as I was working my way observing the small busy detail. Not only am I pleased I managed to complete this drawing but I am pleased that it does resemble the parting of my tree trunk and it does show the size and strength of this old tree.

I am also pleased that I managed to successfully work in charcoal. I feel that the charcoal allowed me to capture some really dark shadowy areas that I may not have successfully achieved with other media’s. I was also able to lift out some much lighter areas with my putty rubber and add the fine detail of the bark with my sharpened charcoal. 

Even though I haven’t quite managed the same technique as Odilon Redon, I still feel this is a good start. 

critically speaking I would say that there are some areas of form in my drawing that still look quite flat, this is something I need to work on and develop so all of my work is consistent. 

For future work I would like to continue to study Odilon Redons work, as I love how he manages to capture such heightened moods with his dramatic tone

Exercise 1: Sketching individual trees

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For this exercise I was asked to find a tree that interests me. I have a fairly big garden and some of my trees are beautiful. Below are some photographs.

I decided to draw the tree below as I really like its shape, it looks like it has been bent out of shape after years of wind damage. It is also in my opinion the prettiest tree in my garden, and I love my little bird house resting on its branches.  

I then decided to take some more up close detailed photographs of the tree just so I could learn about my tree in a more intimate detail. 

I decided that I would try to draw my tree from different view points and angles in order to explore the most exciting compositions. 

I was asked to create four preliminary drawings in order to help me get to grips with the structure of the tree. 

For my first drawing I sat on my bench next to the tree and drew on my table. I worked a4 size and I started by drawing a simple outline of the trees basic shape using charcoal. I found this drawing much harder than I thought it would be as there seemed to be so much going on and I felt like I kept loosing track of which branches were which & where they were all placed! I added both biro to my drawing to try to capture some smaller detail and some black ink to try to show the darkest tones. I tried to shade areas that described how the foliage forms in different masses around the tree and I tried to show the texture of the foliage by using scribbled marks with all of my media’s. 

I found this drawing difficult and to progress further I need to work out how to draw busy masses and foliage more successfully. 

My drawing oddly enough does portray a mood. But considering it was a beautiful sunny and bright summers day, I seem to have captured the wrong mood as my drawing makes me think of a dark, eery, scary forest on a cold windy day. 

For my second drawing I decided to zoom in and work up close to the tree. I focussed on a small area of bark on the trunk. I laid down book paper on top of my a4 paper to try to make the page more interesting to start with. I again used a mixture of media including biro, black ink and pencil. 

This drawing allowed me to really understand some of the small details that make up this beautiful tree and it allowed me to focus on the small detail that was lost on my drawing of the whole tree. 

For my third drawing I sat on the floor next to the tree and looked upwards. I again used white a4 paper with some book page collaged onto the page. I also used a mixture of media’s including biro, ink and charcoal. I drew the opposite side of the tree this time and again had the same struggles as before. I found observing so much detail difficult and I kept getting lost whilst following branches and leaves. I feel like I did capture the overall form and structure of the tree, but again my masses of branches and foliage needs work. I again seem to have unintentionally created a mood of darkness and gloom whereas sitting in the garden on a glorious sunny day seems to contradict this mood. 

For my final drawing, I wanted to focus on just a few leaves and branches of the tree. This detail is what I seem to have missed in my drawings of the entire tree. I stayed sitting on the grass in my previous position but this time focussed in on a very small area of the tree. I again worked on white a4 paper with some book page collaged on top of it. I used a mixture of biro and ink and I tried o capture a sense of shape and form. Whilst also trying to show light and shadow. As I was sitting on the floor away from this branch I was unable to observe its tiny detail, however I do feel like I have captured the essence of its shape.