Old Maple Tree Charcoal Drawing


old maple tree charcoal drawing
 Old Maple Tree. Charcoal sketch on litoposter. Size ~ 70 x 50 cm. Time ~ 2.5 h. August 2010.

I'm self taught in art but after art classes at school, I have taken one 5-day art course. I took the course in 2010. It was about drawing and painting plants and it was set in Suomenlinna in the summer. You could use the tools of your choice, and I chose charcoal and watercolor. The drawings in this post are the only charcoal works I made, most of my works were watercolor paintings. 

The assignment of the maple tree drawing above, was to make a drawing of a tree or a part of a tree paying attention to light and shadow, using only black (or one color for light and another one for shadow). I picked this old, beautiful tree as my subject but the place I chose wasn't the best. I set up my equipment near a path where people were walking and some people would come and look at my drawing as I was making it. 

Old Maple Tree Charcoal Drawing
Old Maple Tree Charcoal Drawing
Old Maple Tree Charcoal Drawing

The oak tree branch drawing below was actually the first piece I made on the course. The assignment was to make a black and white drawing of a part of a bigger ensemble. And I chose a photogenic oak tree branch in the garden. 

Both of the drawings are quite big, much bigger than anything I usually draw, and I wasn't able to scan them. I've never gotten very representative photos of them either and at this point, because they were drawn with charcoal, the originals don't look as they used to either. I did use fixative on them but it didn't help much and framing them seemed like a big chore, so I never did it. So, I haven't made such large artworks since. But the course was very inspiring and gave me more ideas on how to portray plants in art. 

Find more of my drawings here. 

oak tree drawing
From Under the Oak Tree. Charcoal sketch on litoposter. Size ~ 100 cm x 70 cm. August 2010.

Kaksi hiilipiirrosta Suomenlinnassa pidetyltä viisipäiväiseltä kasvien maalaus- ja piirustuskurssilta kesältä 2010. Vanha vaahterapuu ja tammen oksa. Lisää piirustuksiani löytyy täältä. 

Old Maple Tree:

From Under The Oak Tree: 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Prepare Cardboard for Acrylic Painting

Image
Would you like to paint on cardboard, but have noticed that the paint soaks into and you can't achieve bright colors? I'll show you how to prepare a piece of cardboard for painting with gesso primer. Cardboard works for both acrylic and oil painting and you might sometimes want to use it instead of canvas, board, wood or paper to save money or to be more environmentally friendly.
Read more >

Acrylic Over Charcoal Mixed Media Painting Tips

Image
Have you ever wondered if you can mix charcoal and acrylic paint by painting acrylic over charcoal or drawing charcoal over acrylic? I tried it and here are the results. Read on to find out how to combine charcoal and acrylics into a mixed media painting without smudging the charcoal lines and the paint colors.
Read more >

How to Transfer Sketch onto Painting Surface

Image
As I've mentioned before, I don't usually draw my sketches for paintings straight onto watercolor paper or canvas. I draw the sketch on a separate paper, where it's easier to erase and clean up the outlines and then transfer the finished sketch onto my painting surface. In this  blog post I'll list five different methods to transfer your drawing onto the painting surface. They're all either cheap or completely free. Some require a computer or other technology and some don't. So hopefully, if you're struggling with how to transfer your sketches, one of these methods (or a combination of some of them) will suite your budget and the supplies you already have available. Lyhyesti suomeksi alla.
Read more >

Do You Have to Prime Cardboard Before Painting?

Image
Do you really need to prime cardboard with gesso before painting? I previously made a blog post about how I prepare cardboard for painting by priming it with gesso and why you might want to do that. This time I'm testing, if you really have to prime it by showing you a comparison of painting on primed and unprimed cardboard with acrylics. Let's see if the primed vs. unprimed cardboard painting results look different or not and whether I'll be contradicting what I wrote in that post. You can watch the video version of the primed vs. unprimed cardboard comparison or continue reading below. Cutting the cardboard I cut up the cardboard into two pieces, so you can get a fair comparison. It's the backing of a watercolor pad, so it's quite thick. So, I had to use a utility knife to cut it in half and then a nail file to smooth out the cut, because I couldn't get a clean cut. Then I used little nail scissors to clean off the rest. I've used up a
Keep reading

How to Save Leftover Acrylic Paint for Later

Image
A quick tip on how to save acrylic paint for later! If you mix too much acrylic paint or pour too much paint out of the tube, do you know what to do with the leftover paint? If you're planning to continue painting the next day, you can't just leave it, cause acrylic paint will dry by then. You can watch the  video on how to keep acrylic paint wet  overnight and longer or keep reading. Mixed too much acrylic paint? You know how you sometimes mix too much acrylic paint or pour too much paint out of the tube? What do you do with the leftover paint? If you're planning to continue painting the next day, you can't just leave it, 'cause acrylic paint will dry by then. How to save leftover paint for reuse Here's one tip! Instead of pouring and mixing paint on a palette, use little containers you can close. The paint won't dry out when the lid is closed. That way you don't have to waste the leftover paint. And if you've mixed a good color and
Keep reading
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...