Wonder-Filled Wednesday No. 11: Trees

Hi, friends!

Trees are difficult to draw simply because there is so much information. I try to isolate a tree from its neighbors in my nature journal, otherwise I get overwhelmed. It’s the same with any big, complex phenomena in nature, so here is one way to approach this type of subject.

Livestream Notes

Micro-textures (Time Stamp 00:00)

When trying to illustrate bark, keep in mind that the texture you are seeing are micro shadows cast by bits of the bark. You can use your pencil, pen, paint, etc, to render those shadows to mimic the texture you see.

Macro-textures (Time Stamp 04:44)

Pulling back to view the overall trunk of the tree means being more general in your visual description. Look for the big shape of the trunk’s perimeter, and then the texture shapes within that shape.

The Entire Tree (Time Stamp 26:08)

Looking at the subject in its entirety, I like to start with big shapes and drill down to the smaller detail using warm/cold shades of major colors to give the tree a more realistic 3-D form, while still staying loose and sketchy. You don’t need to include minute details. This is visual note taking so prioritize the most important information and don’t be afraid to leave out the extraneous.

As you can see, I experimented with the set up this week to include a view of my palette. Let me know if that was helpful. Until next week’s livestream!

xoSusannah

P.S. Keep scrolling for this week’s prompt.

P.P.S. What’s on my easel this week? Keep scrolling to find out!

P.P.P.S. Join this episode’s chat to share your journal pages, your thoughts, and cheer on others!

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Wonder-Filled Wednesday

Every Wednesday at 1:30pm Eastern US time (Time Converter), we marvel in our nature journals together — draw along with me or just watch, ask questions, etc. Livestreams are hosted on Notes for everyone, and recorded/archived for supporting subscribers.

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Prompt And Extra References For Practice