A Study of Trees (Continued)

This is one of the earlier trees that I drew about a year ago. You can see that there is a definite difference in the style and the detail of this tree compared to my more recent work. During the beginning I did not put as much detail in the leaves and typically there were no leaves in front of the trunk. This was one of the first tree drawings to break away from being very symmetrical as can be seen below.

This is typical of the work I was doing about a year and a half ago. I was more focused on the trunk and seemed to always need to make the tree balanced and symmetrical. There are trees like this in nature, but these early drawings, to me, seemed to lack any real character. My more recent drawings have more randomness and chaos to them. I personally find this more appealing. 

This tree is one of my personal favorites and was one of the first to have roots which were split. All of these drawings were also created on 8.5" X 11" paper using ballpoint pen.

A Study of Trees (Continued)

All of the trees I have drawn over the last couple of years have come from my imagination. This particular tree was inspired by one I saw in the distance near Marysville, California. I only got a quick glance at it as I was driving by, but it made quite an impression with it's uniqueness. This tree was also drawn on 8.5" X 11" paper with a ballpoint pen. I have tried other pens like sharpies or gel, but I cannot get the same effect as ballpoint. 

I like the commitment of ink, it forces me to do it right the first time or get real good at hiding my mistakes. I would like to think I mastered the first one, but I am fairly sure it is the second. Drawing with ink is a very slow process, but it is something I enjoy.  The shading takes a pretty light hand and it is necessary to go over the same spot many times to get the results I want. The more I work on my drawing skills the more detailed and elaborate my work seems to get. Most of my latest drawings have taken more than forty hours to complete. 

A Study of Trees

I work in a job that requires a great number of meetings. Not sure about you, but for me that requires a great deal of effort to stay awake or involved. So about a year and a half ago, I began to draw during meetings. At first it was some simple doodles, (they say people who doodle during meetings retain more information, so no one seemed to care) but over time they got a bit more intricate. I had been involved in art before, but had not really attempted anything of significance for about twenty years. My previous job and family duties kept me busy pretty much all of the time. Now with the new job, I have a lot more time to actually enjoy life and do some of the things I have been missing.

Since I have always had a fascination with nature, I took my renewed interest in art and I began to draw trees. My goal is to eventually capture the true essence of trees, whatever that means. This is one of the more recent drawings from my tree collection. This tree was drawn on 8.5" X 11" paper using ballpoint pen.