After a huge scare involving the health of our oldest cat, a long sleepless night, and an amazing recovery, I spent some time sketching outside last evening to come back down to earth. We have a few Lombardy Poplars in our front yard. They were planted there by the previous owner and we’ve watched them reach their peak, die, and sprout up again from their roots. I was so tired I just plopped down and started drawing what was in front of me, and that happened to be the poplars.
After a while, I started to appreciate these tall silly looking trees. For one thing, their leaves seem to move all the time unless the air is completely still, and it wasn’t. Each branch grows out from the trunk and then immediately shoots upward making each tree a fluttery green column.
It was challenging finding a hatch that matched those constantly moving leaves! I settled on a varied and multi-directional hatch that was a little difficult to keep in character as I drew layer after layer to build the texture of the tree.
So, here it is. It’s a simple sketch, I know, but it made me happy to draw it and I needed to give myself up to the drawing process of observation and interpretation for a little while. I’ve been drawing simply a lot lately. Just sitting in nature and drawing what’s before me, enjoying the moment, and capturing a little part of it with my pencil. The wonderful members of the drawing club have been supporting me as I follow this path of simple sketching to see where it takes me, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for standing with me and witnessing my work.
