Different trees
My four studies were of a Birch (actually, I'm not sure it is a Birch) and my larger study was a very old and characteristic oak tree, which was all twisted up, full of large knots and protruding roots.
Techniques
Very different techniques to describe both. My four-study piece started loose, but then I tightened up for the third and forth drawings, trying to describe the detail in the bark. Although, uneven and organic, the bark was relatively smooth and clean, which allowed me to maintain a nice line and controlled shading. However, the oak was very different. This old ragged tree was haggered and twisted and I approached this, quiet naturally, with a very free-flowing hand, rarely leaving the page.
The mass of foliage
Unfortunetly, these where drawn during the months of February and March, when it was cold. There was no foliage on the trees. So, my focus was on the texture and solidity in the bark, and the organic nature of the larger tree.
Handling light
My studies were made using pen and ink, and a limited-palette col-erase coloured pencils for the multiple tree exercise. The four-series pen and ink studies proved quiet difficult at first; it has taken a little practice controlling the transitional shading with a pen in this way. The light is the white of the paper and I tried to control the pen whilst wrapping around the tree to the darker areas in shadow. For my coloured pencil study I used a hockney-esc layered approach, depicting shadow using either cooler colours or darker tones.
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