Drawing trees

Exercise Sketching an individual tree

This tree sits in our garden and I see it everyday from the terrace.  I started with a sketch of the outline of the trunk and branches.  I then spent a lot of time on a detailed sketch with shading in an effort to portray depth and texture.  Using a mixture of soft and harder pencils I used hatching and cross hatching and varied mark making to create texture.  I am happy with the shape and proportions of this drawing.

I then focused on details of the bark and leaves .

It must be the first time I have focused so closely on a tree that I see everyday.

Exercise Larger study of an individual tree

The sketches below were done using a fine liner pen just to give a different effect.  There are various different studies of several trees.  I especially like the detailed sketch of the roots of a larger tree.  Using pen requires detailed line marking and hatching as you cannot rely on tone for shading.

 

Exercise Study of several trees

Changing medium again, this drawing is in colour pencil.  By using darker colours and more detail in the fore ground there is a feeling of depth in this drawing.  As the trees fade into the background the colours are more muted and less detailed.

This is a view in the woods of Versoix.  I am happy with this drawing.  To improve it, I maybe would have grounded the trees in the background a little more with foliage around the base.

Check and Log

How many different tree types have you drawn?

I am not sure, maybe 3 or 4.  An acorn tree, firs and unknown woodland trees.

What techniques did you use to distinguish each type?

I tended to change mediums which forced a different type of mark making.  Hatching and cross hatching was important for the pencil and pen drawings.  Shading and blending was useful for the colour pencil drawings.

What did you do to convey the mass of foliage?

On the pen drawings I created an outline and just a little hatching on the underside of the leaves to create a feeling of volume.  On the pencil sketches I used hatching and tones of light and dark to create the volume and depth.

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

I think you can appreciate the light on the coloured trees in the woods.  There is a definite light to dark from left to right and this works well.

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

I think this was more successful on the pen drawings.

Townscapes

Exercise Study of a townscape using line

 I wanted to draw something in great detail for this exercise and had the perfect opportunity whilst visiting Florence.  Again I drew the basic outlines in situ but put in most of the lines and details after.  This reminded of the work of Stephen Lawrence, who I admire greatly!  Although mine is only a very poor attempt.  It was very time consuming but an interesting exercise.

This drawing on the right was done from the stairs below the building hence the very dramatic perspective.  The walls are leaning a lot but this is because the view point is underneath.

I liked the simplicity of these buildings contrasting with the detail on the windows and balcony.

Exercise A sketchbook of townscape drawings

   

For these exercises I sat on the riverside in Florence and studied the old buildings on the opposite river bank.  It was a lovely, peaceful area which was very calming.  The buildings were old and interesting and not at all uniform.  Each building was unique in shape and size and colour.  I was sitting just at the height of middle of the building so I could also see the wooden beams holding up the buildings.

Windows and doors seemed to placed in a varied fashion and shutters were very much a feature of the architecture.  It was a warm day but slightly overcast so there were not too many shadows.  The drawing on the top right was a quick sketch which I then started to colour with pencils.  I then  sketched in pencil trying to show the shadows, where the light fell.  I also focused on the shutters for a detailed drawing.

Exercise A limited palette study from your sketches

For the limited colour palette exercise I decided you use a drawing of a building I had drawn before.  I decided to use red, brown and orange.  This was drawn on watercolour paper so using colour pencils gave this drawing texture.  I quite like this effect.  I tried to limit where I put the colour to give a hint rather than flat colour everywhere.

Exercise Drawing Statues

This statue of Freddy Mercury resides in Montreux where we have been many times to visit.  It is a bronze, life-size statue situated in a lakeside park.  I first drew an outline sketch from behind and then decided to focus on the top part of the statue from the front.  I wanted to capture the details and attempted to show the shadows on the bronze material.  The second statue resides in one of the parks in Geneva.  The challenge with this drawing was to accurately represent the proportions of the body and the foreshortening of the legs.  I am quite happy with this but think the top half of the body is too bulky and she doesn’t have enough length in the torso.

Check and Log

How did you use a limited colour palette to create a sense of depth?

I am not I succeeded in this task of creating depth.  I like the feel of this drawing and the fact that the colour fades on one side of each building.  I also find the limited use of colour makes this more interesting.  I also quite like the texture of colour pencils on the watercolour paper.

Did you preliminary sketches give you enough information for your final pieces of work?

I am sure that I haven’t fulfilled the brief in this regard as I tend to go directly to working on finished drawings.  I struggle to draw many different sketches before I start on a final piece.

Would you approach this task differently another time?

I am not sure which task you are referring to but in general I think I should do more preliminary sketches.

Have you got the scale of the buildings right?  Make notes on what worked and what didn’t.

In general the scale of the buildings is correct although some of the vertical lines bend or lean a little.  I am happy with the perspective.

Have you captured the colour and atmosphere in your studies?  How did you do this?

Not really,  I need more skill with colour mediums to do this.

Perspective

Exercise Parallel perspective – an interior view

 This type of exercise is more in my comfort zone.  I like perspective drawing and tend to feel comfortable with precise and accurate drawing.  I like simple, graphic styles so this suited me.  The first is the hallway of a friends house which is roughly sketched in situ and then finished from a photo.  I choose to work this piece in colour pencils as their was the striking effect of blue and yellow.  I am happy with the perspective although I do tend to bend the vertical lines, perhaps a ruler might have helped in this instance.

The perspective seems correct, everything going back to the 1 point.

 

The corridor on the left above is my entrance hall which is very plain but I wanted to focus on the lines of perspective only.  The drawing above right is more detailed with shading.  This is a view into a bedroom from the corridor.  There were lots of angles to think of and perspective to think about in this drawing which took quite a lot of time to do.  I found with these drawings it was useful or even imperative to stop and look from a distance regularly to check the perspective was correct.

Exercise Angular perspective

This was a first attempt at angular perspective and is a sketch of a building situated in our village.  I took my pad and sketched the outline in situ and then finished it at home.  I tried the medium of oil pastels but regret this decision.  I found it impossible to blend and also work in any detail.  I find this sketch looks very primitive and basic although I actually spent a long time on it.  I think oil pastels should be used for less rigid structures and themes.  The angle on the right of the building is also leaning too much to the left so the perspective is a little false.

Check and Log

What problems did you find in executing perspective drawings?

Getting the vertical lines vertical was the main problem I encountered.  Sometimes you get too into the drawing and forget to check the lines and their position.  You need to imagine the vanishing points as they are often way off the page.

Make note on the merits of using, or not using, rulers to guide you.

In general I prefer not to use rulers when sketching buildings as it tends to take away the spontaneity of the drawing.  I think that occasionally checking with a ruler might have been a good idea.

Landscape drawing

Landscape Drawing Research Point

Albrecht Durer’s landscapes, whether woodcut prints or painted are full of detail and mark making and he creates depth and form with this intricate details.  He uses detail in the foreground and leaves white spaces in the background giving the illusion of depth.  His painting of the foliage is a beautiful example of detailed work in colour with a skillful use of fine whitish lines to separate the leaves.

 

   

Claude Lorrain, 1600-1682 approx.  also painted in a realist style with minute detail.  His work is smooth and blends so well that we cannot see any brush marks.

John Constable’s work in comparison (below) is looser and less formal in style.  Although realistic with a distinct foreground, middle ground and background and correct proportions it is definitely less rigid and structured.

When it comes to L S Lowry there is totally another style of painting.  The colours are muted and vibrant within one piece, especially on the right hand painting.  He creates a sense of depth with colours getting lighter in the distance and by using less detail.  He isn’t concerned with the correct perspective in the buildings but this is what gives his work that unique style.

 

 

A sketchbook walk

For this exercise I choose to take my sketch book around the golf course.  It is often very quite during the week and I was able to sketch peacefully and above all not bring attention to myself.  It was an sunny/cloudy day so the light was quite flat without much shadow.  I tried to focus on points of interest such as a bench, fountain and signposts.

 I started with the fountain for washing clubs.  This was my first experience of drawing outside so I was very self conscious and trying to hide myself from curious onlookers.  This scene had the challenge of water which I found difficult to draw.  I concentrated on the foreground of the fountain itself and just draw a vague shape of the hedge in the background.

Next I moved on to the start of the main course and drew the signposts.  There was a tree behind on a little hill so I tried to include the dark shadow underneath, by this time, the sun had come out.  I think I need to be more distinctive in the type of mark making for each different texture.  The grass is short and spiky but could be more defined.  There should also be a shadow coming from the signposts.  Maybe I was drawing to quickly, trying to get out of a busy place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bench was located in a quieter more shady part of the course and that day it was very wet underfoot.

I tried to draw the trees behind the bench in a ragged way and a wispy shadow from the bench as it was not at all defined.  My main concern was the shape and proportions of the bench itself.

The last area was walking back to the clubhouse on the small course. There was a path with a very uneven wire fence with small clumps of violet flowers growing in the grass.  I tried to get the feeling of perspective with the trees in the background.  These trees were a lot darker.  The fence posts were placed randomly and all shaped differently which is what appealed to me.  I feel, at least, there is a feeling of distance in this sketch.

Exercise 360° studies

These sketches were done in Portugal, again on a golf course on the 9th hole.  It was a overcast day that gave way to storms later on.  I spent a lot more time on each of these sketches and tried to use a variation of mark making to interpret texture.

 

The first scene looks out to the ocean  in the distance.  I spent a lot of time trying to draw detail in the bark of trees, bushes peeking through the small fence.  The horizon of the ocean gives the feeling of background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turning 90° the next scene depicts just the edge of the green and a mound with trees and shrubs.  The tree on the right has more detail and therefore helps to depict the foreground.  The bushes at the back should maybe have been lighter to show the distance.  These drawing are actually quite a bit more detailed than before and more precise, more in my comfort zone.

 

This drawing is meant to show a huge ravine between the bushes in the foreground and background but I struggled to show this properly.  The trees in the background should have been lighter to create the feeling of distance.  I need to finish the grass in the foreground but ran out of time.  As I have taken photos, I can finish this if necessary any time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This view is looking down the fairway with the green in the foreground.  I messed up the short grass of the green and wasn’t sure how to put it right.  It had been cut showing the grain in the grass but the angle is all wrong.  The trees seem to be all on one plane and not fading into the distance.

 

In general the detail and mark making is better in these drawings but shading and shadows aren’t particularly successful.

 

 

 

Exercise Drawing cloud formations

 This was a fun exercise and now I find myself looking at clouds and working out the best way to draw them in different mediums.

This first example on the left was made with a 5b pencil and a putty rubber.  I tried making the clouds by taking out shading with the rubber.  The paper is quite cheap and smooth so I could only take out so much pencil before it went a little shiny.  Needs more practise.

The following 2 pages are samples of sketches using different mediums.  For the top example I used charcoal from a separate piece of paper and rubbed it on with a tissue.  I then created the clouds with the putty rubber: this seemed more successful and is good for wispy clouds which we often find over the Jura mountains where I live.  We are lucky to have a view of the mountains and some very different cloud formations, so it is easy to sit at the window and sketch them.  I also tried drawing clouds with an 8B pencil but was disappointed with the blending.

The bottom left samples were made using a paper template and rubbing with tissue covered with charcoal.  Interesting and fun but needs refining as they don’t yet look like clouds.

I then tried with charcoal again and added shadow above the clouds as the light source was from below.  Again it was difficult to take out all of the charcoal to get enough white.

Below is an example using soft pastels on a light beige paper.  This was the most fun to do and very messy.  It was fun to put the white on top of the darker colours instead of taking out with a rubber.  I also tried using oil pastels but couldn’t get them to blend at all.

Exercise Plotting space through composition and structure

On the left are some preparatory sketches for this next exercise.  I decided to go back to view in the south of France and also worked from photos.

The sketches are quite detailed here.

I used A3 paper and took a whole view to represent the fore, middle and background.  The mountains in the back are softer with no detail and less defined.

The middle ground could have been a little more distinct but I couldn’t get the foreground any darker and didn’t want them both to appear the same.

I perhaps should have chosen another view or made the foreground much more detailed but I was a little lazy and didn’t want to spend hours on every detail.  The main thing for me was to understand the concept and how this type of perspective works.

Research Point

Claude Lorrain and Turner:

     

The Claude Lorrain paintings above are lovely examples of how objects and landscape fade into the distance.  The colours in the foreground are very deep and intense.  The details become less important as things disappear into the background.  He always seems to have a distinct horizon line, using pale colours for the sky.

I found it less obvious to distinguish the back, middle and foreground of Turner’s paintings and had to look through a few to find good examples.  His work is almost more abstract and ethereal and therefore less rigid and obvious in format.  The painting below left has distinct fading as object disappear into the background.  There is in both paintings a marked horizon line and less detail from the middle plane.

     

Check and Log

I simplified my study too much and didn’t put enough detail into the foreground.  I didn’t realise it had to be a precise piece of work and thought I was practising to understand concepts, so my drawing remained in sketch form.  I now appreciate the value of fore, middle and background and how to achieve this within a drawing or painting.  Light and shadow is important and was highlighted much more when looking at the clouds, which was very interesting.  I will, if I get time, go back and practise much of what I learnt in this chapter.