The dappled sunlight on the tree trunk

When the rays of sunlight hit the forest they filter gently through the leaves and the dense branches, creating patches of warm glow on the tree trunk. The light and contrast play creates beautiful abstract patterns on the tree and I have tried to capture the magical glow through my Charcoal sketching as given below.

I have used Canson Mi Teintes paper for the art work and the following tools,

• Camel charcoal pencil
• Conte a Paris white pastel pencil
• Kneaded eraser
• Blending tool or tortillon

Canson paper has a sandy surface and charcoals and pastels work good on them.They are available in many different shades but somehow I have got stuck to using the dark grey one.

The dappled sunlight

Charcoal and white pastel sketching on Canson paper

Size 5" X 7"

My love and fascination for drawing and sketching trees continues to grow. It all started in the year 2014 when I was beginning to get into landscape paintings. I needed to study tree anatomy before getting to paint them. The best way to understand them was to do tonal study. I started it then and do it even now as I find it very relaxing. 

Sketching out a tree using charcoal pencil.

We were at Karnala Bird Sanctuary recently and it was early morning hours. The sunlight falling on the tree trunks created great light and contrast. It was a good opportunity for photography. Using one of the photographs I created the charcoal and white pastel pencil sketch as below.

The paper I have used is Canson Mi Teintes and it has a sandy surface which helps to fix the charcoal and pastel to fix on it well.

The Sunlit tree

Charcoal and white pastel pencil sketch on Canson paper

Size 5" X 7"

I started the  "TREE STUDY" sketches somewhere in the beginning of year 2014. The intention was to get a better understanding of the tree anatomy. Later it became a passion. The more I create tree sketches, the more I love them. Each one is so different, with its own individuality.

Browsing through my earlier posts I came across initial tree sketches as given below.

Tree trunk study works done in the past.