Cypress Whispers: Overcoming Art Challenges to Draw a Cypress Tree...

I still don't get used to that moment of the blank page- I would think that at this point I could savor it - like 'O wow- soon there will be a finished piece on here- I will look at it and say- its done! But now its blank- im ABOUT TO CREATE the latest thing to be proud of or something!

but No- I am inwardly holding off the rising sensation of dread and panic. I am mortified staring at the blank space.

Which is kind of funny.

I am usually wanting to conquer. I always want to conquer the clean slate and begin quickly. I am so used to this that I am similtaneously cultivating a sense of play- but its not PURELY Play.

In other words- its exciting.

There is a race against time- in the beginning. I am trying not to get attached to any ideas. That is where I feel most free- because soon- before you know it- you WILL become attached to an idea- you have to- in order for it to become fleshed out and cohesive.

But the longer you can draw out this sense of freedom and play in the outset- example- scouting the width and breadth of the sketch, jumping around, keeping things light and fun- the better- the tighter the piece will turn out later.

Thus begins the Cypress sketch. I do enjoy tackling a tree for sketching. They have a lot going on and they always teach me something new.

Remember- an object in nature that you take as a reference is a study in light and shadow, color {when you are doing a color piece} but it is mainly a study of many relationships of objects in space together. Light and shadow can be visual cues or demarkation to work out distances between branches and trunks and leaves.

So make a conserted effort from the beginning to plan how they all fit next to one another- we have two main trunks for instance, we have various thin branches that divide each section- keep dancing all over the place before you get mixed up in the detail.

I had an urge to do a tree before I start painting my annual Mermaids this year- and I looked at this particular tree in my life and thought 'I want to get that on paper. Can I do it?' Looking at the photo I now ask- what was I thinking? There is so much going on. And there is so much overlap.

It was an intimidating subject to draw.

I'm used to seeing a tree that is more simple and now after doing this piece, looking back at why I chose the simpler trees before- I think I am used to a tree subject wherein- I already SEE the sketch as I'm looking at the Tree itself. I already know where to start. This is why I put this in the Gauntlet series- this is why it was such a challenge for me to do. I couldnt see how on earth to begin the sketch.

So there was only only one thing left to do...

Sketch it.

The Original

This time? I had no clue where to start and how it was going to look- no idea. Add to that a cypress tree looks odd. They have a quality of wispy points and the mass of the strange leaves look like anything but leaves really. I looked at this and thought what will happen if I make this?

You never know until you try. Now I look at the picture- were I to do it again- I know exactly where I would begin- that is a lesson learned. That is a breakthrough in my technique.

I think I went in for detail a little sooner than I should have- if I wasnt so scared of the piece I would not have been in such a hurry to start rendering- I was actually kind of panicked at drawing this tree. So making details early helped me calm down- it gave me a sense of how this tree was going to happen sooner rather than later.

I usually go after deciduous trees in autumn because im weary of drawing leafy bunches with pen or pencil. I don't know what possessed me to do this tree this time. Plus to make matters worse- I used the same paper as I did for the cat and octopus sketches previous- those of you who saw my octopus video know that I could not use the eraser for this paper. More's the pity.

The octopus forced me to use my finger to rub the lead around- and I brought that technique here- I started thinking that perhaps that was how I would get to the cloudy floating nature of the tree but it only worked in some instances. I dont know what I was thinking- Cypress 'leaves' are anything but cloudy and soft. They are thick and pointing in jagged diagonals to the sky...

This was the second stage of panic mode. I thought I have fallen too hard for the detail and now it was a clashy, over-complicated mess that had lost it's 'treeness'. But I was at the precipice of a new stage.

Luckily I was using woodless graphite.

THIS piece taught me to use a technique to flesh out it's strange masses of dark and wispy leaves: I used the side of my pencil- yet ANOTHER technique I was not used to but- at just the right time- my artist instinct took over and my hand found itself adjusting the pencil accordingly. I used it now like crayon or charcoal. This is when the piece started coming together.

It started to look like a Giant Cyress- better yet it started to FEEL like one. The cyrpess tree is a very transportive organism. You can stare at one and be swept up in the invisible wind it seems perpetually caught up in. They are perfect upon gale-swept ocean cliffs and seem to evoke that same epic wind whether they are in a cemetery or looming above my haunted abode.

A cyrpess tree seem to enjoy a constant whirlwind of ghosties flying and moaning around it. Stare at one of these and you enter an old priceless piece of Japanese art. It is amazing that the leaves of a cypress can be so replicated into miniature versions in the art of building tiny bonsai trees. I marvel at the inginuity of mankind to invent this inspired art at the intersection of planting, gardening, and sculpture. Yet I am even more amazed that mother nature grants this art affirming clue to come and play with her- to celebrate her creations with our own...

And here I am making this miniature gigantic cypress with merely lead and paper- discovering her clues and new techniques within myself. What an adventure it is to observe and take a journey from the eye to the hand...to the pencil point...to the page. I cannot help but feel that the slight sense of satisfaction I have after finishing the piece is perhaps akin to the delight she feels at her own creation. Or perhaps she - like wide world- the haunted alive universe all around me is delighted to be beheld by any beholder and maybe special- by an artist.

It was satisfying to discover the technique out of necessity and novel to utilize it- varying your techniques serve to reinvent the process well.

Takeaway: If you want to do something and you just arent sure how its going to happen- dont bother trying to map it out or answer the '"HOW' question. Just go and do it.