Friday 20 July 2012

Drawing the not so 'Common Oak'

My third drawing on wood featured a Common Oak on oak wood. The photographs I used for inspiration were taken on morning walks around the Arboretum.



my drawing surface - raw oak with bark and burr features
stage 1 - establishing distant tones

stage 2 - establishing the tree shapes

stage 3 - shadows picked out from several photos,
I wanted these shadows to wriggle across the ground
The finished piece, adaptions made, finished, gessoed and sandblasted
Common Oak, 'Quercus Robur'

I found this piece of writing shown on a sign when visiting the arboretum last week; I hope my piece of work compliments Wyatt's words:

"No writer could ever match the poetry expressed in the form of a single tree,
for it speaks from its roots, through the fibres of its stem, the shape of the trunk,
the turn and spread of the branches, the twisting and reaching of the twigs.
A tree speaks. It speaks of a hundred summers and a hundred winters.
The whole of the message is contained in the way it has grown,
precisely, to make use of what its environment has provided.
It states in essence 'Here I am, and where I am is what I am'"
By John Wyatt, from 'Reflections on the lakes' 1998

1 comment:

LAC EMP 2020 said...

Wendy, how wonderful to have a source you return to again and again and with inspiring words like these to set your imagination going I wonder what you'll focus on next? Have borrowed Roger Deakin's Wildwoods from the library and I'm well engrossed in it by the way. I seem to be reading his books in reverse order and want to read about the wild swimming next.Thanks for the recommendation. In return can I point you towards Sightlines and Findings by Kathleen Jamie? I think you might enjoy them. PS Congratulations on the MA result. Well deserved!