Tree sketches

Sketches of Trees

 Mainly from observation (some from reference)

What I found very striking about the oak trees when I was in the woods was their strength. Therefore I felt it was necessary to accentuate and try capture this through darker lines in the "strong" places. I found that the contrast of the maker pen and then fine liner works well. I also think that the fine liner captures the texture of the bark well. 

 Here I further experimented with the marker pen but building on what I had discovered with the fine liner (that not filling the shape but using lines builds texture like the bark). I also added colour to this image with very dry acrylic paint which is not a solid dot so therefore creates texture and the effect of leaves with light coming through?

What I also discovered from this was that where the marker pen seaped into the back of the page this created a very unusual image which I didnt intend on. The line quality in this is something which would be difficult to capture from the front of the page because as it has seaped through the paper it was accumilated a smoother/softer line. I think that this looks really cool and it rather excited me because some of the most interesting things form out of "mistakes"/unplanned events.

Here I wanted to incorporate colour into the image so again I used dry acrylic to try and create texture. Furthermore I added fine liner to try and add contrasting detail into the image and even more create bark.

 Here I was trying to create a forground and a background. I did this by having darker and stronger colours and lines in the front. I wanted to make it busier but I didnt think that this was very sucessfull.

 I wanted to focus in on the curvy branches. This is a very important part of the woods and especially striking for oak trees. I went back to my fine liner/marker pen drawings.

 I thought I would try using pencils and used the light and dark and lack of lines. There is a reasonable amount of cross over in this which adds perspective to the image.

 I dug out my chalk and charcoal and started using this. This time I used smaller almost layered lines to create the texture of the bark.

 I thought it would be interesting to try combining totally different medias- oil pastel and felt tip pen. The felt tip doesnt blend at all but had an interesting effect to it and more detailed than the thicker oil pastel.

 I really like this image. I am normally not a fan of pastel and hate the feel of it under my finger nails however I think this is sucessful. This was an image from reference and i interpreted the tree to black with yellowy light but I really like the way it has blended. I also like the layered tones on the guys jumper and hair which I think looks really effective and was rather unexpected. Because of the colour tones I think it works even better because the colours are very similar and it really looks like he is falling out of the tree. I also like the contrast of the thinner lines to represent the branches of the trees in the background. It is also nice how loose they are in comparrason to the block colours. Again the sky is white and although this adds light to the image, in contrast to the very dark tree, it is just white... Also to improve i would do something with the green because it is a different colour palate to the rest of the image...

 This is an interesting image. It is quite eary I guess because of the use of chalk pastels and the greyness with resonates throughout. It was very strange being in the woods at this time because there was green light shining through the trees so I tried to capture this. When I was in the woods the light wasnt scary and creepy however this image seems very atmospheric partly due to the cold colours but it is also aesthetically pleasing.

 Again I was capturing the strength of the trees and I ended up accentuating the curviness of the branches. I then added the chalk pastels in by using the side of the pastel to try and capture the autumn leaves on the floor.

 This was fully chalk pastel and also very atmospheric. I think this is an unsual media because of the way that it blends together. Also in this image I was trying to capture the lumps and bumps of the landscape but not in detail, just to give the impression. It needed to be less detailed than the trees but it really picked up the tooth of the paper.

 I went back to my maker thick black drawings again however used a calligraphy black pen instead which meant that I could use thinner and thick lines but them still rather be strong. In the background I wanted to make it denser but I found that drawing rough trees in the background looked really child like and stupid so thought I could strip it down to just lines. More prominantly this was an experiment with gold leaf. I added it to the sections where there was light because sometimes light is so bright it is hard to see and does glow gold. It is a medium that I could not make be detailed but this jagged effect actually is more effective because it is less perfect and like flickering light.

 This was visualising a story that Ruth told me in her interview about 2 brothers falling out over a cherry tree. It is quite a bring and simple image, not relative to oak trees, but it portrays a narrative... I also gave a background wash here.

 This was experimentation with watercolour... in comparrason to the pastel drawings it is very plain and bland (lacking of tone) however again I mixed media with the dog burrying a slipper. However with the paint it was possible to create a whispy, dry texture towards the end of the branches.

I then decided that a4 wasnt large enough. I was looking through my photographs and getting frustrated that I couldnt capture the depth and intensity of being in the woods and the amount that is going on there so thought I would use my reference imagery to collage this. I wanted to try and keep the light in same direction so the top right hand corner was light and the bottom left was dark. To further do this I wanted the leaves to be at the bottom (towards the darker left hand corner). I cut out some of the trees with a scalple but also left some uncut. I printed out the tree photos on a4 and was collaging a3 so found that the trees were either floating or stopped in the middle of a branch. Overall however i think it is an effective woodland collage and definitely captures a sense of place.

 Post my tutorial it was suggested that I should take a segment of one of my photos (really zoomed in) and this would be in order to almost create a pattern and then build up layers by having a very compact and concentrated branches image... still dont feel i managed that. Also the different shades of green are interesting and not all natural looking but it adds a surrealness to it. I also shaded the background with pastel to try and create density but it just looks really feeble.

I looked at a photo which was very colourful (before all of the leaves had fallen off) and so I tried to capture this through pastel shading in the background to represent the leaves. On top I added black in without water which became quite textural to try and capture the business and dominance of the branches. The texture of the ink running out on the brush is really interesting and I mixed thick and thin lines.

 I quite like this image also. I added colour back in again through pastel in the background but reverted to the black line work however this time also through painted ink which adds a smoother and more beautiful, natural and free flowing...less rigid. I also added in some branches in the background in fine liner which gives the impression of more twigs and branches. When i cropped the image I framed it with a tree in the corner of the image and it had very open bark so I thought I would experiment with using chalk pastel again but the whole width/lenth of the pastel rather than just the point. I think it was effective but just not with this image.

 Furthermore with ink I decided to do an ink and stick (i think it is called-with the end of the paintbush image). The line quality of this is unreal! There are some areas which are really dry and whispy and other areas that are solid black. It was really nice to create the whispy thin lines still in an oak tree fashion. This looks a lot more like a scary bare winter tree. There is a really nice balance of light and dark in this image.

The problem which I am having with all of these images is that I dont think that they are finished enough to be a page in my saddle stitchbook. I think the reason for this is partly because there is so much white in the background. This is not something you see when you are in the woods as there is always something complex going on and I am really struggling to find a solution to this.

One a different note, I have found that reflecting on my work has become a lot easier even in the space of once term. I feel that I now have an understanding of things like line quality and can use them and reflect on them rather than the techniques just being happy coincidents...