Trees don’t do what we think they do.
Trees are a perfect example of left-brain vs right brain conceptualizing in artwork. If somebody says, “Draw a tree,” it almost certain that person will draw what they think a tree looks like. And it is almost certain that it won’t look like what trees really do.
(I can verify this from my own experience of drawing trees that just aren’t right somehow, and doing it many times. I am still learning to look at trees.)
This Saturday morning I took a walk. On the way home, I noticed the tree next to the driveway of my home. This is a great, powerful tree.
But as I got closer, I realized it offered one of the most important lessons about trees:
ANGLE AND PERSPECTIVE The first photo of the tree was from a distance, and that simple shape could almost be seen as flat. But, from beneath the tree, looking up, things have gotten more interesting:
Now the big limbs overlap. They are not all on the same flat plane. Some go off into the distance. So, If one wants to depict these, it will require some way of addressing depth and angles.
COMPLEXITY is another important lesson of trees. Here is a small small tree that lives outside my art studio.
It’s a fabulous little tree. But look at how complex! There are a LOT of limbs of varying sizes and positions to deal with here. To represent this tree, I think I’d want to deal with the complexity. It could be simplified, but I’d want to do it judiciously. Otherwise, it won’t convey what this tree really does.
Do trees have to represented realistically? No at all.
Here’s an example from artwork hanging in my home:
This is a monoprint by Michael Nemnich, an artist I met when we were weekend neighbors at an art festival. This abstraction of a tree is his signature representation of a tree. It appears in a number of variations in his work. It’s his unique tree. (And I love it.)
On my worktable, I have a stencil ready-to-cut that is also an abstract tree.
I haven’t cut it yet because I may still want to tweak it some. But I like its mix of child-like simplicity and strength.
A different stencil on my worktable, also ready-to-cut, is much more representational. I drew it from a reference photo, going mostly for realism but with some simplification.
Here’s a stencil that’s already in my portfolio of stencils as a positive image. I also drew it from reference photo.
It’s a tall southern pine photographed a few blocks from my house. Drawing those wavy limbs-like-arms was a great surprise to me. If you had asked me what southern pines looked like, I would have just envisioned the tall simple trunk. I did not believe all those limbs were really there till I studied the photo.
(Just a note about stencils. To use a positive stencil, like the southern pine above, I would lay it down on my fabric and use it as a resist. I’d roll paint over it to paint the background, and whatever color or pattern was in the background would show through inside the tree. For the stencils I am about to cut, I will keep both the positive and the negative. It’s interesting to use them both within a work. When I use the negative stencil, it’s like the inside of the donut hole: I roll paint across and create the shape of the thing itself.)
Trees are powerful symbols. They convey strength. The passage of time. Stability. Fond memories. Fragility. So much to work with!
Enjoy exploring and working with trees when they are the right component to express any of these things in your work.
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A reminder for those who care about the direction of our country and who are deeply concerned about where it is going: The simple citizenship act of writing to your representative is still a powerful and important act. Compose a few words. Put them in a document you can cut and paste into the “contact form” on your representative’s site. Find your senators and representatives and copy their email addresses into your working document so it’s an easy task. Write. Repeat.
Find your US representatives’ contact HERE: https://www.house.gov/representatives.
Find your senators’ contact HERE; https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
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For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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