Tree Bark - Platanus

 

The structure of the bark of the plane tree (Platanus) is beautifully coloured and has a nice texture so I had to use that tree in my series about tree bark and other things as well.

On a watercolour under painting - not very strongly pigmented this time - I used my Graphitint pencils for the tree bark and used some water to 'awaken' some areas of the drawing.

Over that drawing I outlined the leaves - found on the ground after a windy day - and added the three major veins of the leaves. These lines were 'awoken' with water as well. 

I decided to stop here because adding more colour or structure would make this drawing a chaotic one and I really wanted the structure and colours of the tree bark to be visible.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original artwork - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Tree bark - Poplar

 

Close to our home are lots of poplar trees and the older ones have beautiful bark structures close to the ground - where I can see it best and make pictures as my reference.

One of these trees also has mosses growing in the structure of the bark and that one was my model for this work.

On a watercolour background I worked with my Graphitint pencils, using one wash of water between layers of pencil. 

After a strong wind I found a fallen leaf that was used for the second pattern in this work. I traces the outline of the leaf using a white pencil, colouring the negative space between two leaf shapes. I kept on working like that until I had 'covered' my sheet of paper with overlapping leaf shapes.

The white was not standing out as much as I hoped so I added white gouache paint in several layers to the white lines and the negative shapes that were coloured white.

Once again I experimented with structures and materials and I really like doing that. The result does not matter that much, even though I like the finished piece to be balanced.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and - if you are interested in my original works - my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

My Chestnut tree in Springtime

 

It is Springtime and my chestnut tree has lots of buds that are opening now. Some will be only leaves, many will also be flowers. Of course I wanted to paint that once again.

For this work I made several reference pictures and I started with the tree bark in watercolour. Not too much colour because that is how my tree looks in bright sunlight.

After that had dried I added a branch with a flower bud and some new leaves at the end and painted that as well with watercolour.

After that I started with my pencils, adding details and depth by layering the colours on my paper. 

One branch was not enough, so I added three more, only using my pencils, looking for a good composition.

Of course this work is not 'perfect' but with this I am continuing my series with tree bark and leaves or fruits of the trees that inspire me.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this work and my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Tree bark drawing - oak

 

The reference picture with the beautiful bark of an oak tree was waiting to be used for several months and I finally decided how I wanted to use it.

For this work I first made a watercolour under painting, followed by drawing the tree bark with a Graphitint pencil on the dry underpainting. This is how I usually made these tree bark drawings, though the latest one already had an 'extra' by adding the shapes of the leaves.

Now the experiment starts!

Once complete, I used watercolour paint for the colours on the tree, but not exactly as they are. Using the watercolour also activated the colour of the Graphitint pencil I used for the drawing. The Graphitint pencils are water soluble and show a different shade when activated by water. After all was (as good as) dry I used the pencil again to deepen the shadow parts.

So far I have only been working on the tree bark and now it was time for the 'extra', acorns this time. I made some shapes of acorns and the little caps they have with white paper and used these shapes for a first composition. The shapes have different sizes, that is how I wanted to do this. Drawing around the shapes with the Grapitint pencil did not really give the result I wanted so I used a white Graphitint pencil to draw these shapes again.

The result was nice, but not enough, so I almost filled the paper with these shapes I cut out, overlapping in areas and drawing the outlines with both pencils. After that I used the pencils to indicate the volumes of the acorns and that gave me the result I was looking for.

The experiment was nice, combining pencils and paint and making two layers of shapes, the tree bark and the fruits of the tree.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this work and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Beech tree bark

 

During my painting vacation I made several reference pictures of trees and tree bark hoping I could use them that same week. One of the pictures is of a beech tree that had several dark spots at eye level (my eyes) so I made the picture. When looking at my pictures our teacher and coach Ad van Aart suggested I would make a watercolour painting of that part of the tree including a bit of the background. 

So I tried to do that, on the hottest afternoon of the month. Of course I failed being too tired with the heat and humidity and my paper (I selected Grain Torchon) would not dry because of that same humidity. At last I gave up and when I did show the work everyone mistook the tree for a birch, the tree trunk was too light and the dark spots were too dark, as you can see below.

As I wanted to paint the beech tree, I tried again at home on Grain Fin paper and I started differently. Now I succeeded to make it look like a beech tree. 

This tree stands in the shadow of other, large trees all the time and did not grow upright. 

The tree bark is dark grey with patches of green that are caused by some algae growing on the tree bark. The dark spots are not all dark brown (my mistake in the first version) but just darker grey with a touch of the green I mentioned. For this version I also changed the composition a bit, the left side of the tree - with some extra dark structures - is now visible so the structure of the tree trunk is more comprehensible.

The second painting (the one above) is what I hoped for. Beech trees do not have a very structured bark and this is the best I could do.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this painting and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Tree bark with ivy - a pencil drawing

 

Some months ago during a nice forest walk I made a reference picture of tree bark with some ivy growing up the tree. There were a few branches of the ivy, a lot of the tree bark was still visible. This reference picture was made for later use.

Last weekend I prepared this drawing, by making the watercolour under painting first and after that had dried I made the lines of the branches of ivy, the outlines of the leaves and the structure of the tree bark.

Later, during my presence at the 'Af en Toe Kunstroute' (an Art route not far from my home in which I often participate) I had almost six hours to complete the drawing. Of course I had to talk to the visitors, give information about my art, the route and more but there was enough time to work on this drawing.

Only for the leaves I used a bit of water after the first pencil layer. After that had dried, I added two or three more layers of pencil until I was happy with the result.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this work and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog. If you are interested in my original artworks, please contact me.

Tree bark - 2 a graphite drawing

 

Last summer I made several reference pictures of tree roosts, tree bark and whole trees for later use. Of course I can always paint a tree and I have experimented with the tree roots during my painting vacation. These works were made as a start, to gain confidence for working with that subject.

The tree bark pictures are used now and I am experimenting with a watercolour under painting and combinations of pencils for the drawing. Using a small size watercolour painting I make an under painting in only one colour that can already suggest the colour of the tree bark. When that is dry I start drawing the patterns of the tree bark.

This time I have not only used a Graphitint pencil for the drawing, I also used a dark matt graphite pencil to achieve the dark shadows that are in the reference picture. The tree is another coniferous tree and again I do not know the species.

The reference picture is only used as a guideline for the direction of the lines in the tree bark and I have indicated the darker areas. After these were drawn I used my memory and my imagination to get the result that you can see, only looking at the picture when I really thought I was going the wrong way.

The results are what I hoped for and of course I will make more of these drawings in the future. Maybe one day I will make a watercolour painting of tree bark, but first I need to get more familiar with this subject.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this work and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Tree bark - a graphite drawing

 

The patterns of tree bark are beautiful! Last summer I have been drawing and painting the bark of a redwood tree, this time I have made a drawing of the bark of another coniferous tree - I do not know which species.

The reference picture was enlarged so I could concentrate on the structures of the tree bark.

For this work I used a small sheet of watercolour paper and made an under painting with a nice granulating colour and let this dry naturally. After that I picked a Graphitint Pencil and started to draw the lines and shadows of the tree bark. Because I only used one pencil, I had to think about the values, the original reference picture has more colours in the tree bark than only shades of brown.

The darkest shadows were touched with a brus with a little water, to 'awaken' the water soluble graphite tint of the pencil and darken the shadows even more.

This experiment has turned out nice, at least for me. The results are what I expected and in the (near) future I will make more works concentrating on the structures of tree bark. 

Maybe I will be a bit bolder in my colour choices and add more techniques and materials after a while, but I will have to find out what I really want first. And that can only be achieved by making more drawings or paintings.

The information about the materials I have used, the size of this work and its availability can all be found in my Tumblr blog.