Drawings: OCA Part 3: Assignment 3

Assignment Three - Drawing Outdoors Final Piece

Graphite and Chalk on Coloured Paper

 

First off I have to say that this assignment was hard, or more specifically finding the right view to work from was the hard part. I needed a view from a window or doorway that included natural objects (i.e. plants, trees etc) had a sense of depth to demonstrate some perspective as well as some straight-lined objects. I found looking out of any window covered a couple of these criteria but they all seemed a bit, well, bland. So when I finally found this view I knew that this was the one I was going to work from, it had a linear perspective in the buildings and some trees in the foreground and the church gave an interesting background.

 

So, having found my chosen view I set about playing around with the composition and decided on a portrait format that I felt showed the depth of the drawing well. I then experimented with the perspective of the buildings to ensure that I had it all right. After this I decided to eliminate one of the background buildings and I am glad I did this as it helps the church to be more dominant in the background.

I experimented with a watercolour and pen drawing that I decided not to pursue, it did not feel like the right media for the piece; I wanted to work with something that showed off the setting better. After a bit more exploration I decided I really liked the way chalk and graphite worked against each other, especially on the coloured paper as a mid-tone. The media manages to capture something of the feel of the place quite well.

I ended up spending a couple of hours creating the final piece and I am really satisfied with the result. My only concerns are that I may have lost some of the depth in the final drawing and that I should have explored some more choices of media that may have showed certain elements off better.

Experimenting with Composition

Biro on Paper

 

Pencil Sketch (left) and Working out Perspective (right)

Watercolour and Pen Piece (left) and Charcoal Sketch of the Same Tree (right)

 

First try with Chalk and Graphite on Coloured Paper

Drawings: OCA Part 3: Drawing Trees III - Study of Several Trees

Study of Several Trees

Ink on Paper - A3

 

Study of Several Trees - Silver Birches

Fine Liner on Paper - A4

Learning Log

 

How many different tree types have you drawn?

I am definitely no expert on trees but I’ve definitely had a go at drawing quite a few different types, oak, elm and birches at least.

What techniques did you use to distinguish each type?

I was not really focusing on analyzing the type of tree I was drawing but more on the individual tree itself and the way it had adapted to its own environment. To achieve this I concentrated on its own particular characteristics i.e. the shape and direction of its branches and sometimes detailing some of the leaves, this acts like a fingerprint to identify the type of tree it is.

What did you do to convey the mass of foliage?

Once I had plotted out the basic shape of the tree and all its elements, I would identify how the branches interact with the foliage, how bits clumped together and the direction they went in. I did a bit of experimentation but I found that being loose with the detail works best, just enough to give an impression of the foliage. I think this works best because when viewing a tree you do not register all the leaves and twigs individually, you tend to think of it as one united object.

I used very simple marks in the fine liner drawing of the birches, slightly messy marks because the foliage seemed to scribble its way around the trees.

How did you handle the light on the trees? Was it successful?

In the individual tree drawings once I had described enough of the rough details, I shaded with the intention of seeing the entire tree as one object. This allowed me to keep similar levels of light and dark continuing through the entire drawing, so the darkest points stayed as the darkest points without getting lost. I also attempted to capture the way the light shone through the clumps of foliage in places, almost glittering amongst the greenery, by concentrating on the details.

In the group of trees I produced in ink there is a much starker contrast because of the media, although less subtle this did allow me to maintain a consistent level easily. In the fine-liner drawing of the birches, the second colour of the green sort of acted as a mid-tone in places.

Did you manage to select and simplify? Look at your drawings and make notes on how you did this, and what could you do better?

After finishing this project I can conclude that knowing what to select and what to simplify is really quite tricky, include too much and it will make for an uncomfortable drawing, too little and the piece will seem unfinished, wanting more.

In the study of the oak tree and the elm tree in the second exercise I think I did this quite successfully, I spent a lot of time picking out the important details to include and eliminating those elements that seemed less important. In the group studies I think I may have simplified possibly too much in places, though I am very happy with the texture the ink was able to convey.

Overall I think I have done quite well in this project I am pleased with the results and I have definitely enjoyed working through it. Trees are still one of my favourite subjects and I shall no doubt return to them in the not too distant future.

 

Drawings: OCA Part 3: Drawing Trees II - Larger Study of an Individual Tree

 Larger Study of an Individual Tree - Oak Tree

Pencil on Paper - A3

 

'In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful.'

- Alice Walker

 

Elm Tree

Biro on Coloured Paper
 

I loved this exercise and the results of it. I started out with the drawing at the bottom of this post but had to abandon it after about fifteen minutes because it started to rain, the grey clouds should have given me an idea it would but I ignored them, fool that I am. Despite being unfinished I thought I would include it because I do quite like it, who knows, I may go back and try to complete it one day.

On a day with somewhat better weather I started the second piece in this post, the elm tree was within a mass of foliage so I thought the coloured paper might help to give an impression of this, I used biro because it would show up well against the green.

The last piece I completed was the large oak tree (first picture in this post) this particular tree caught my attention while I was in holiday in Cornwall because it had a wall built right up to it and because it dominated its surroundings but seemed calm and subdued at the same time.

I tried to concentrate on getting the ‘sense of directionality’ that the exercise asked for, letting the drawing grow mirroring the same way the tree itself has done, from a basic trunk and the extending its reach further and further. I tried to work fats and to keep up the tempo but I still spent at least an hour on the elm tree and probably more like three hours on the oak tree, I think the results have definitely been worth it though. I’m happy that I have managed to capture both the dominant presence of the oak as well as some of its intricate delicacy.

 

Abandoned Piece

Pencil on Paper

Drawings: OCA Part 3: Drawing Trees I - Sketching an Individual Tree

Sketching an Individual Tree - Small Sketches

'Like people, trees are all individuals.'

- David Hockney

 

Sketching an Individual Tree - St James Park

Pencil on Paper

 

Trees are a subject that I always love to draw, no two trees will ever be the same, and they are an infinite supply of inspiration. Indeed, no two drawings of the same tree will be the same either as they are always continuously changing colour and shape, through the seasons etc.

It is also the process of drawing trees that I find enjoyable, starting with the basic shape and building up the mass of the drawing, adding in details such as twigs and leaves that might catch my eye and lend a distinct character to the drawing and individual tree.

Quick Sketches of Trees

Ink and Biro (Left) . Charcoal (Right)

 

Tree in  Local Park

Pastel on Coloured Paper

 

Woodland Watercolour

Watercolour on A4 Cartridge Paper

I found this piece that I created a while ago, last spring if my memory serves me well, and thought it was quite an interesting artwork. I remember consciously trying to be uninhibited with the colour; if I got the feeling of a colour being present in the view I endeavoured to add it without hesitating.

 I personally find it really intriguing how if you really look at something, especially natural landscapes, you begin to see all sorts of colours you would never imagined would be present. It is taken for granted that leaves are green and trees trunks are brown, but they never really are.

Whether I succeeded in my attempts with this I am not entirely sure but nevertheless, as a piece of art, I really quite like it.



Paintings: Ruined Window Watercolour

Watercolour and Indian Ink on A4 Cartridge Paper

So I am once again back and blogging once more and I thought I would start this new blogging year with this piece featuring a ruined church window. I created this artwork a while ago and I liked it because  it was all overgrown with ivy, the trees were growing though the window and plants were clinging onto the rocky walls; it already seemed like a piece of art before I even started to draw it.

I worked with some watercolour tablets and Indian ink on this artwork, consciously using quite vibrant colours to try and convey a subtle reminder of stained glass. I am not sure if this worked, you will have to decide for yourselves on that, but I am definitively pleased with the finished result anyway.

Sketchbook: A Wintery Watercolour Tree

Watercolour in A5 Sketchbook

I’m being a bit inconsistent with my last post, but this time I thought I’d be faithful to the current season and put up a rather more wintery looking piece. This maple tree caught my eye with its bare branches looking almost skeletal, just looking at it makes me feel cold and shivery.

This was just a quick sketchbook piece so I used watercolours, sticking to yellow ochre for the light patches and a dark brown for the shadowy tones.

Paintings: Summery Tree

Acrylics on Cartridge Paper 14"x13"

Bit of an antithesis to the current season but I am putting this piece up as a reminder of how colourful and alive the trees were in summer compared to now, and because I quite like it.

I used palette knives to apply all the paint on this piece, this was the first time I’d used them on paper, so it was an interesting experience, I still prefer using them on board or canvas though.

To start the piece off, I used some blue acrylic mixed with white to show the patches where that warm, clear summer sky would be peaking through the foliage of the tree. I then started on the branches to get the shape of the tree before beginning the fun part; the leaves. I went a bit crazy with these which is probably why the final result is a lot rougher than I had anticipated but I am not too disappointed with it. I put quite a bit of yellow into the leaves because they often seem to have a yellowish gleam to them where they reflect the sun.



Drawings: Fallen Tree on the Canal

Pencil on A5 Cartridge Paper

I created this drawing over the weekend while I was a way on a narrow boat, chugging along the Grand Union Canal. This fallen tree, extending over the side of the bank and dipping its branches in the canal, creating some delicate ripples caught my eye. I used a few different pencils to try and quickly capture it in my sketchbook before it passed.



Sketchbook: Inky Trees

Indian Ink on A5 Cartridge Paper

This was a really quick sketchbook piece I created using some black Indian ink. I found a couple of skeletal looking trees completely bare of any leaves and sat down to draw.

I avoided using any brushes or pens in this piece, instead I simply used a folded strip of cartridge paper dipped in the ink and dragged this across the surface of the paper to form marks. I managed to attain some different levels of tone just by simply using different amounts of ink on the paper. I think this has worked especially well on the tree trunks where I made sure the paper was very dry before dragging it with a slight curve to give the impression of the curved shape and the roughness of the bark.

The branches seemed to weave in and out of each other, almost not knowing where to go without their leaves to cover them. To try and convey this in the piece I used a straw to blow some of the ink, so I wasn’t in complete control of where the ink would go, this helped to get the branches feeling busier and more natural looking.

P.S. Yay for it being my Tenth Post!

Drawings: Elm Tree Sketch

Charcoal on A2 Cartridge Paper

I produced this piece at the same time as another charcoal drawing which I featured in an earlier post. I actually prefer this one as it just feels more gratifying, It may not be as polished in some places, maybe a bit rough around the edge but its feels less cultivated and more genuine and authentic somehow.

It is in the same location in Canterbury as the earlier piece was, but it is a different tree, this time an Elm, in this one I made the branches fill the page creeping into all the corners and spreading beyond the paper. I used a variety of different marks in the background, aiming to avoid creating anything too rigid or structured, instead opting for some more obscure and softer marks that give just the impression of the habitat in which this tree stands. I diffused some of the background imagery to make the focus move even more to the central subject of the Elm tree, standing defiantly, almost obtrusively straight down the middle of the page, cleaving the entire sketch in two halves.



Sketchbook: Some Seasonal Spruces

Watercolour in A5 Sketchbook

Autumn seems to be speeding along at quite a pace so while we are still in the midst of it I thought I would capture a little bit of this all too short-lived season in my sketchbook with this warm watercolour painting of a line of leafy autumnal trees in the park.

I employed a limited palette of some typically warm autumnal reds and yellow ochre’s for the majority of this sketchbook piece, as it was intended as just a quick composition to look back on for future work. However, having completed it, I am quite pleased with the ultimate result. It is quite a simple representation, I didn’t try to capture anything more detailed than a fleeting impression of the subject but there is something in the simplicity of it that I appreciate and regard as quite engaging.

P.S. I googled it and apparently these trees aren't technically spruces but then my alliterative title wouldn't have worked.

Some Arboreal Botherations

Watercolour on A2 Cartridge Paper

I used watercolour to create this piece of a lonely oak tree on the side of a slope. I went slightly mad with this piece, incorporating any colour or means of applying the paint that took my fancy.

I started with the main trunk of the tree, deciding against including a distinct background of any sorts, so I sketched it all out in a light burnt sienna. Then I filled in much of the main trunk and the thicker branches with various brown hues adding touches of sap green to give the impression of some mossy patches clinging onto the bark. I also gave a slight hint of the hill upon which this oak tree grew with a faint wash of sap green at the base to give this tree something to grasp on to. I was quite pleased at this stage, but then I started on the foliage and that’s were it started to go downhill in my opinion.

I started on the leaves with another sap green wash, like with the hill at the tree base and then suggesting some more frondescent details using a hookers green applied with a rigger brush. I was still quite happy at this stage, but this is where I began to go a little bit crazy with the colour. I thought I would give it a more autumnal mood by utilising some warmer pigments to the foliage with some cadmium yellows, oranges and a light red. I applied these colours by flicking them onto the surface with an old toothbrush dipped into the mixed colours in the hope that it would add little flourishes. I’m not totally convinced this has worked but I don’t think the piece is a complete disappointment, and others have said they liked it so maybe my efforts with this piece were not completely wasted in vain.

Trees by the Riverbank

Charcoal on Paper

So this is a rough Charcoal sketch based upon a peaceful little place that feels like an oasis, starkly contrary to the bustling crowds of Canterbury High Street only a stones throw away.

It should be noted that I didn't actually draw this on location as it were, but rather in the studio from a combination of memory and a few sketches I had already completed, which is why, having been back to te place with the sketch it doesn't quite match up in many of the details. However, it is still a piece I am fond of and am also pleased with as it captures something of the mood of the place.