#tree

Lately I’ve been making an effort to look at trees. Typically, I appreciate trees in a general sense: enjoying fall colors, picking BB up to show him acorns hanging from a branch, seeing a willow tree and reminiscing about the tree at my old home. But I don’t really observe trees. What do they look like? Well, tree-like, presumably.

But due to this watercolor jag, I’ve been painting a lot of trees, and knowing what a tree looks like has become more important. Sarah Cray constantly talks about how wonky trees are. Like, she mentions it every time she paints a tree. Are they really that wonky?

According to my survey, the answer is YES. On a broad scale, sometimes you get a classical tree-shaped tree. Other times, you get a lopsided or asymmetrical or weirdly leaning tree. Maybe instead of a single trunk, there are two or three or five trunks branching outwards from a single spot. And things get weirder on an individual branch level. Even the most pristine tree has gnarled branches, weirdly curved branches, zigzag branches, you name it. Sometimes branches curve because they’re bowed down by their own weight. Sometimes they curve upward, reaching toward the light. Sometimes they’re just freestyling. Who knows.

Point is, I was giving myself flak for a curved branch in my Gwydion pic, but that’s actually very realistic. In real life, there would be more curved branches. All straights is fine for a stylized look (I like the effect in my Iriekain pic), but it is definitely stylized/unrealistic.