Tree Series: Drawing 8

This drawing in the tree series has the most texture yet! I am really excited about the many, many layers of texture I was able to achieve in this drawing.

Tree Series: Artistic Process

Climate change, the accessibility of drawing, and universality with trees are the factors that inform my current drawing series.

Travelling across Alaska while in the army, and my residency in Hungary led me to explore the impact of humans on the landscape. Trees grant us our existence on Earth. Without them we do not have a future. Most people see trees as the proverbial abstract forest; I see them as individuals. Each tree has a personality and a story to tell us.

My drawings center on the interaction between the texture of the bark, the natural design of the limbs and depiction of the scars left by time and weather. I look for deep shadows in the knots and patterns in the bark. I draw to transform natural detail into massive, solid shapes, achieving unique perspectives from an up close and personal vantage point.

When I draw a tree, I get close up and study the detailed textures, bark, branches, etc. Older trees show the scars of living and time, just like people. A broken or twisted branch is beautiful in the story that it communicates.

I have been working in graphite as my primary medium since 2008. My process is as follows. I travel to locations where there are older trees like the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Pisgah National Forest or locally north Charlotte’s Ribbonwalk. There I observe the trees and spend time with them. I sketch on location, sometimes using rubbings of the bark’s texture. I also photograph the tree for future reference.

On return to my studio, I use the sketches, texture rubbings and the photos to draw very detailed close-up drawings in graphite. I include the living, dead and broken branches. Before I put marks on the paper, I score the paper with rough objects like rocks, etc. This scoring shows up as white texture in the dark values of the final work. I then apply the graphite in values light to dark. At various times in the process I randomly make marks on the paper with graphite or other instruments to emulate the bark imperfections and variations.

On observation, the viewer can literally see the divine, through the divine proportion in the bark and branches. I emphasize the ratios found naturally in branches that result in the wonderful asymmetrical balance that stimulates and fascinates our unconscious minds. My drawings are heavily focused on a full range of light and dark values and include as much of the tree’s individual personality as possible. As in nature, some branches of a tree are almost invisible until you get really close. I reward the viewer to get up-close and linger with my drawings.  

I want viewers to develop a more personal relationship with trees, leading to greater understanding of their important in the ecosystem.  

Tree Series: Artist Statement

Recently, I began exploring the importance of trees to the future of our planet. This is the project I hope to pursue in 2020

In 2018, I altered my artistic focus on a weeklong art retreat with 7 other artists in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Influenced by the surroundings and the artistic interaction, I wanted to educate and motivate people to care about the natural world enough to make changes in their lives to protect the planet. I have selected what I believe are two accessible avenues for that purpose: drawing and trees.

First, drawing in graphite provides the public and me clarity of process. Drawings are straightforward and accessible, most people draw at some point in elementary school. I believe this accessibility will help the public receive my message.

Second, most people like and are familiar with trees. Therefore, I selected the tree as an entry point in the discussion about the complex issue of climate change. My Tree series seeks to personalize trees to engage the viewer.

I want my tree drawings, and the viewer’s understanding of how they relate to world climate events, to be as universally accessible and familiar as elementary school art class.

The Series brings trees into our daily conversation so we can talk about climate change in a way that is personal to us. I share my work with others to provide common ground to work toward common purpose.

Tree Series to Date

The Tree Series has 8 drawings now.

Pink Cityscape Sketch for Susan G. Komen Laugh for the Cure

Here is a sketch of the painting I will do as a live painting at the Susan G. Komen Laugh for the Cure event on March 19, 2020. This is a watercolor with color pencil. 10 x 6 inches. In the foreground, there is a banner on a street light pole with the Komen logo. Also, in the mid-ground the Komen logo is painted as a mural on the side of a building.