Part Three Outdoors Project 1 Exercise 2 Larger observational study of an individual tree

Before commencing this sketch I did a bit of research...actually a lot of research, as I felt at a loss as to how to approach my sketch.

Hannah Downing.

Vertical Panorama: Oak Tree, 2013.

Installation shot at the Last Gallery, Llangadog.

Amongst other artists, I discovered the work of Hannah Downing, called Vertical Panorama: Oak Tree. , 2013, when looking through the Jerwood Drawing Prize Catalogue 2014. I could not believe that this immense drawing was a graphic work. (Jerwood Visual Arts, 2014) The detail she achieves in her execution of the texture of the bark is phenomenal. From the images on the internet, it looks like a photograph. (Downing, 2014) She definitely deserved to win a prize.

One of the 2009 winners that appealed to me was the work of Sue Cave. Nevergreen Oak 1 is also a subtle, sensitively studied pencil drawing of an oak tree in Kirtlington Park. It reminds me of an obituary, as the oak has since been felled. (Cave 2012)

By contrast Gary Edwards, also featured in the Jerwood Drawing Catalogue 2014, is more concerned about mark making and the building up of layers of graphite patina. His images evoke the idea of deep forests of trees, and yet he does not implicitly draw them. (Jerwood Visual Arts, 2014)

For this exercise, I chose to draw the criss-cross pattern of the remaining stubs of palm branches on the trunk of a large palm tree on A2 size paper. Living in Cotonou, Benin, we are surrounded by palm trees, and although I started this drawing in the front yard of my mother-in-laws house in Cape Town, I still felt an affinity to the delightful patterns and textures of a palm tree, because of living in palm-filled Cotonou.

Where I experienced problem was that I commenced this project while still on vacation in Cape Town, but was unable to finish it while there. I photographed the trunk so that I could continue, but on returning to Benin realized that the angle of the photograph and my original angle were slightly different, enough to play a bit of havock with the section I had already draw. What was particularly tricky was that I kept getting lost in my drawing, and had to keep cross-referencing my position, to ensure that I was getting the many shapes and designs down.

I chose to use black watercolor paint, a black watercolor pencil, compressed charcoal and a Nero soft drawing pencil as my media. I initial experimented a bit in my sketchbook and then launched into the large A2 size drawing. I loved drawing the top third as I was drawing in pein air, and the area was calm and quiet. Drawing the remainder in my apartment in Cotonou, did not have the same effect. I also struggled to maintain a continuous drawing style.

Sketchbook Study

Final study of palm tree texture. A2 size.

Works Cited

Cave, S., 2012. Nevergreen Oak 1. [Art] (Jerwood Drawing Prize Exhibition 2009).

Downing, H., 2014. Vertical panorama: Oak Tree. [Art] ( Installation shot at the Last Gallery, Llangadog.).

Jerwood Visual Arts, 2014. Jerwood Drawing Prize 2014, London: Jerwood Drawing Prize & Jerwood Charitable Foundation..