Sunday, February 05, 2006

The Ol' Red Cedar



In one sketch of some of my property trees, I caught a bit of the red cedar that sits near the wellhouse. Someone commented that they thought this tree might make a good study. I thought I'd give that a try yesterday while I had some time, but the rain was coming down so fast and furious, I couldn't leave the house. I had taken a photo of the tree a while ago and so worked from that.

I liked how the bark came out, but I had a difficult time deciding how to handle the leaves .... I added some watercolor - and then wound up watercoloring the bark as well. Though I'm very pleased with the result, I'd like to try this tree again and figure out a way to represent the leaves in pencil or pen.

10 comments:

Rayna said...

Lin, I haven't drawn in weeks but your trees make me want to get back to it. Interesting how we both have images of trees on our blogs today. Must be something about the rain.

seesue said...

A repeat study of something such as a tree seems to be a marvelous idea to me. I'd like to do the f seasons of a desiduous tree, either sketched or photo or, better yet...both.

Ramesh Gandhi said...

That's beautiful. I especially like the shadowed areas in the roots.

Lindsay said...

really nice job Lin. Thanks for your solidarity comment on my blog!!

Zaz said...

lovely sketch and watercolour - Lin

I like the idea of posting the two together - very interesting to see the leap forward into colour!

Sara

Anonymous said...

Lin, The simplicity of your drawing makes it that much stronger. Beuatifully done!

Terri said...

The drawing is excellent Lin and I think the colour adds to it and doesn't distract from the texture you managed to depict in the bark at all. Well done. Looking forward to seeing more of your tree/leaf experiments soon.

Anonymous said...

It is so useful to think of going back and back to the same subject to see how many ways you can approach it, isn't it? I'll be interested to see your next go at the old red cedar ;D. This one is lovely.

Teri said...

I also love using a sponge for tree leaves. Great job Lin!

MD said...

I love the line work and the way you've not included everything. very effective.
MD