Exercise 1 – Trees
Sketching individual trees
For this exercise I went to St James Park to look at the trees near me and started by drawing and sketching the trees there. Fitting trees onto a page is quite difficult because they are so big there is always something that won’t fit onto the page so being selective becomes quite important. I find that the trunks of the tree are more interesting to me, the way that they twist and turn as the tree goes up.
Own images, Own Photographs (Accessed 26/06/2019)
I didn’t have any fixative with me whilst I was out, so the pencil picture took on some of the charcoal of the tree opposite. I really like the effect of the print on the page with the pencil drawing, it has an almost ghostly look to it but seems to give it more movement.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
There are many willow trees down by the lake so I have tried to show the contrast, how different they are, the branches go up and the leaves come down.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
I really like the way that the sunlight comes through the branches so when I came home I tried to capture this with ink and conte sticks. The contrast is greater when the trees are darker around the edge, makes the white seem even whiter, particularly when i use the white pen and layer that up.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
I worked on different mark making using the dip pen and conte sticks. By using my fingers I printed the marks made by the dip pen, printing until the ink on my fingers ran out this gave me more bark type marks and foliage marks. By drawing a horizontal line in ink and then smudging it downwards it gave me interesting marks that look like bark, sycamore bark. I liked the way this worked and will use these marks in the future. By drawing with the waxy white chinagraph pencil and then using a conte stick the particles stick to the page and means that you can be more precise with the marks when I want. Indian ink is so dark it works well when describing the deep dark gashes in the bark.
I didn’t like using a pencil to draw the trees I didn’t think this worked well in getting the trees shape, but maybe it would work better when drawing detail or smaller trees. I preferred using the charcoal or a softer pencil this also allowed me to work faster.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
The ballpoint pen here was quick this was useful in the park but just gives the same line which doesn’t add enough interest but I liked the movement that is captured. I enjoyed the mark making and came up with some ideas that I can use in the future.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
The negative spaces in between the branches are interesting often making triangles and diamonds many different shapes. Because trees change so much during the year they can describe the landscape in emotional ways, in the winter the landscape looks sad creating a different atmosphere from that of the summer or spring.
Exercise 2
Larger observational study of an individual tree.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
In this exercise I have chosen to use A3 paper as the tree I have chosen in the park near my house is quite Large. I chose this tree because I really liked the branches and the way they twist and turn around one another making interesting negative spaces with the light coming through. As it is June the foliage is at its best and I found that I really liked the conte sticks as blending them can give many more colours which works well with the variety of foliage colours. The leaves are at their most green and vibrant and this what I decided was important to show in this drawing. The conte sticks are also quick and easy to use to describe the foliage’s different tones and the marks made using them seem leaf like. I think at this time of the year it is foliage that describe the tree and make it distinctive, which is why I made it a coloured drawing. The leaves seem to be lighter on the top of a branch and darker underneath the light source coming from above.
I used some of the ideas I looked at in my sketchbook when looking at different marks. The smudging of the Indian ink really worked to describe the uniqueness of the bark on this tree. The bark is mostly smooth but it has the deep marks that run horizontally on the trunk. I liked the way this worked and the Indian ink has a great depth of colour which makes the marks look deep. The tree conveys an almost joyous, vibrant like feeling that captures the mood of the spring, summertime, I think this worked well.
Own photograph (accessed 26/06/2019)
I went to the Van Gogh Exhibition at Tate Britain and saw this painting by Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709) ‘Avenue at Middelharnis’ (oil paint on canvas). Van Gogh saw it in the National Gallery and he used this idea of the perspective in his letters and pictures.
The trunks of the trees are really prominent and this is how I wanted my tree to look, it is not a poplar tree but I do find that in really tall trees the trunk and branches are very prominent. In Van Gogh painting there is an atmosphere of sadness and I think that as I mentioned before the trees are important in portraying this.
Own Photograph (accessed 26/06/2019)
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)
Avenue of Poplars in Autumn Nuenen, October 1884
Exercise 3
Group of trees
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 28/06/2019)
I felt that this was a great opportunity to try a faster more loose piece and use a limited palate as suggested by my tutor. This is something that I need to persevere with as it does not come naturally to me at all.
The painting above by Van Gogh is a real inspiration to me, I really like the perspective and the way that the viewer is drawn into the painting. So this was a starting point for this exercise as well as the limited palate and to be more lose and less representative. I also wanted to look at light and how it plays in the natural environment. I have been looking at the painter Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923), I visited an exhibition of his work at the National Gallery and was inspired by the way he captures light in his painting. I think this has helped me to see how to capture light better and how this can create interesting art.
I went to St James Park first thing in the morning and found the way that the light came through the branches making patterns on the grass really interesting and something that I wanted to work with. I made some preliminary drawings and a coloured piece to see what colours I could work with and how to limit it. This worked well And I found that the experiments with colour gave me a good starting point.
So I decided to use A3 paper the A4 seemed too small and cramped, this was what I didn’t like in my coloured sketch. The blues and greens worked well with the tones and light so I carried on with this.
I decided to mix media, using pastels, oil pastels, coloured pencils, charcoal and felt tip pen. This combination gave me the variety of marks that I wanted and seemed to work for me in this limited palate. I am pleased with the results, I am trying to work in a more fluid way and using the ideas from Van Gough to draw the viewer in. I really like the way the light creates patterns on the grass and I wanted to use this and I feel that this added another dimension to the image.
By smudging the pastels as a base colour, it allowed me to work faster then I stippled over the top for the leaves, blending the colours created more colours and tones. Adding some marks with the coloured pencils to define areas or branches. By keeping some areas white where the light is coming through or adding some white ink too. The darker areas I chose to make dark blue making it darker than the green but not as dark as black. This seemed to work the green blended with the black also worked on the tree trunks. By using some chinagraph pencil too for the chalk to stick to this gave me a method for being more precise with the pastels. The tree on the left in the foreground is a different species of tree with more sparse foliage and a twisted trunk, the trunk grey and blue with the morning light.
I selected the lines of trees as the focus and found that using the white of the paper allowed me to simplify the light so that did not have to be worked on. The foliage does look a bit stripy but this was how the trees seemed to look, I could blend this better though.
OCA Drawing 1 