A Tree Sketchbook

Old Maple Tree 

   Trees have been my life-long companions, everywhere that I have lived. I found some inexpensive sketchbooks that had paper with a good feel to it and I filled one of them with sketches of trees from different places around the country that I particularly like. All sketches are done in pen and ink.

   Some trees were met only in passing, such as the these trees on a beach near St. Augustine Florida.

   A few years ago I was on the north rim of the Grand Canyon while there were active forest fires burning in the area. Forest that had burned a few years ago had green new growth under the tall spikes of burned tree trunks. The bare and polished gray trees made a dramatic pattern against blue sky.

Here is an oak tree in Marin County, California, living on a grassy hilltop.

A row of eucalyptus trees in Marin County, California. Rows of live oaks, eucalyptus, cypress trees or allees of espaliered trees seem to invite a walk to whatever is beyond the path they shelter.

There are many beautiful trees in Victoria, British Columbia, including beech and sequoia, some quite large. This beech lives near the downtown area.

   In Wisconsin we are surrounded by many species of beautiful trees. Here are walnut trees growing on County P east of Valley.

   An elm tree garlanded with red ivy stood on the ridge on County V for many years.

   Splendid, big old locust trees filled the air with fragrance from their white flowers every spring at a friend's farm south of Hillsboro.

   The thorns on these trees were one of my favorite toys as a child. I would make chains of thorns stuck one to another. During recess at school we sat in the grass under the trees making crowns and necklaces of the locust thorns and twigs.

   Here is an old oak near my home.

      And finally, the forest of trees near Warner Creek on a winter day.

    That's my little tree sketchbook. I hope you've enjoyed meeting some of my tree friends! I'd love to  hear of special trees you know.

   Sharing this blog is appreciated. Thanks for visiting.

Sonoran Sketches

Sketch of Ocotillo plant

   The ocotillo is one of my favorite plants, since I first met them while living in California many years ago. After all the time I've spent in the deserts, it is only in the last few days that I've learned they are not cactus. I sure feel dumb! But an easy mistake to make; they grow where cactus grow, they have thorns. I confused thorns with spines; they are not the same thing.

Ocotillo is interesting to draw; many textures, and sometimes small green leaves for contrast and of course the beautiful long curved thorns. Very red flowers crown her stems in the spring.

   Ocotillos bloom in the spring, often even if there is no rain. They provide a dependable food source for migrating hummingbirds with their regular blooms. As with many desert plants, there are numerous ways that humans and other animals use ocotillos.

    A spray of their branches rising up to twenty feet from the rocky ground, topped with trumpets of crimson is a beautiful sight.

    Making sketches here in the desert seems challenging if one is unfamiliar with the terrain. Everything has a spine, thorn or sharp tooth. But it is really not much different to wander here than at home in the Driftless hills. There, checking for ticks before and after sitting in the forest is similar to taking a look around for cactus spines or residents better left alone, such as scorpions and rattlers. 

   So after finding a nice flat rock and a good view, sketching here is rewarding. Every plant has a unique and different shape. Trees, cactus, vines, shrubs, lichen, moss all grow here. There are over 2,000 plants in the Sonoran desert so there is no shortage of subjects to draw. This desert is one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. Yet zooming by in a car, we see almost nothing but a few tall cactus and a monotone flat land.

   Artists in this area often use very bright colors. Some of that is because of the Spanish and Mexican influence. Brightly colored buildings, blankets and pottery are part of this region's history.  The people who have lived here for thousands of years also developed dramatic and colorful art. But beyond that, the land itself holds an amazing amount of color. Cactus display every color from green to purple, to red, yellow, black, white, browns and some turn purple with cold temperatures.

   

   Saguaro cross section, above, has a core ring of woody ribs that support the water filled, fibrous body. An old saguaro can weigh thousands of pounds and is a world of food and shelter for many other desert residents.

   The Golden Torch cactus is from South America. Grown in botanical gardens here, it's quite arresting to see when backlit by the sun. Did you know cactus are Western Hemisphere plants? They live from southern South America to northern Canada. There may be one or two species in Africa, but this is home for them. We have cactus in Wisconsin; prickly pear grow in the sandy areas along the Wisconsin River valley.

   The desert, like the prairies, once visited can be hard to forget. They are hidden worlds, full of diverse and unique life, colors that change constantly and a beauty that we have mostly forgotten is how the world should be.

                                                                                  desert beauty