Trees and yet more trees, it’s all about observation!
I have spent many hours this year in parks and woodlands sketching and painting trees. I have been doing this for 25 years, and once I spent a whole year, just trying to understand them. Here are some recent results. Above, walking in King George VI park, Ramsgate, left, sun behind the trees at Pegwell Bay.
Right, the other side of those trees the next day in different light conditions and below, more coastal walkers, this time at Ramsgate’s West cliff on a sunny morning. They deserve plenty of observation to see their shapes, their light and dark areas, and their true colours.
They also have light and delicate areas as well as their strong trunks and large branches, capable of weathering storms. If you are drawing or painting them, don’t forget to leave air holes for the birds to fly through.
This is another oil painting which I painted on location at Blean woods near Canterbury. We don’t have much woodland in Thanet, where I live, so we have to travel to find them. After walking for about a mile beneath the deep canopy, I found this path with just enough sky showing through to light the subject, another dog walker, who gives scale to the trees here. Thank goodness for dog walkers.
I’ll leave you with a short video of me out painting on a chilly February day, showing my progress and who I meet up with as I paint. Enjoy!