Project 1 Exercise 2: 
Larger observational study of an individual tree

In my village I found this beautiful and very large old tree. It's trunk is so very wide and textured: 



I have chosen to work on cartridge paper with pencils, a variety of hardness. 

I study the tree for tone first of all, stretching the very darkest areas in first of all with a 6B pencil. I then move onto the movement of texture in the bark. The pattern of the trunk seems to move at a side wards angle, so I follow this with my pencil. The trunk is also, in parts covered in green ivy. 

I can see in this drawing the different tones of the branches and the areas of tree that are hidden from the light: 


I decide to sketch this tree again. This time I go in with a more subtle touch and use lighter marks. 

Using a lighter hand, I feel I could better communicate the fluid nature of the trees texture. I used a HB pencil for the lighter areas, and a 4B for the darker. 

I love how delicate this drawing is in contrast to my previous sketch. In many ways I wish I had have left it here as I can see beauty in this sketch as it is: 


I continue with my sketch and follow the texture of the bark across the whole trunk. 

I also begin to add a little green for the ivy leaves: 


Reflection: 

The tree was a beautiful subject to observe. 

I could see its texture and the diagonal line of its pattern that I followed with my eye. 

I could also see the huge width of its branches, some had access to light and some remained in the dark. This was really interesting to plot in with my pencil and a great way to observe tone. 

I much prefer the delicate strokes of the HB pencil I used in my second photo and do wish I had stopped there. As I progressed, this sketch lost its beauty. I feel that the ivy leaves I coloured into the sketch are a little too big, the leaves in real life are much smaller. 





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