A Walk in the Forest

This time there are again two tasks connected with each other. For this I ask you to go out into nature. Go for a walk. With open eyes.
The first task is to look for leaves and other parts of plants from meadows or the wayside, which you can take home with you to press them. They can be grasses, leaves or delicate flowers, just not plants that are too thick. Lay these leaves flat between sheets of newspaper or kitchen rolls, they absorb the moisture particularly well. The leaves should not touch each other, leave plenty of room between them. When you have prepared all the collected plants in this way, weigh them down with books or other heavy objects so that they are flattened. This will take a few days.

Gathering and collecting began very early in human history. In this impulse, collecting something has to do with taking only something that attracts your eye. That you fall in love from collectible to collectible. That you say, “Oh, that’s beautiful,” or, “Ah, that’s beautiful too, I haven’t noticed that before.” With this eye of discovery, with this wonder, you go into nature today to collect your leaves. You will need these pressed leaves for a later impulse, but the preparation is necessary now.

The second task is to look at the trees while walking in the forest, in nature. Then try your hand at drawing a tree. You can draw a whole forest, or a piece of forest, or a whole tree. What does that depend on? First: See if the tree or the piece of forest appeals to you if it appeals to your affection. Whether you say, “Ah, that’s beautiful, I like that.” And, “I imagine I can do that, too.” Approach the drawing with this attitude.

Looking at the object tree then happens as follows: You keep your eyes parallel and very still. Maybe you pull your eyelids together a little and block out the light a bit. Look very closely at the contour of the tree. Only then do you look at the inside of the tree. Where does the light flash through? Where it doesn’t flash through, there are many accumulations of leaves or needles, depending on which tree you choose. You observe. Or you take pictures. Maybe you find a place to sit.

A drawing of a tree and a drawing of a forest are a bit different. A forest is always characterized by the trunks. In the drawing, they are parallel oscillating lines. But with both the tree and the forest, you look at how you can delicately draw this concentration of leaves or needles using small elements.

It’s your choice whether you find a place in the forest to draw or take photos and sit down at your drawing spot at home. In any case, at the beginning of your drawing, you define a section on the drawing sheet for yourself. A small rectangle or square, on the sheet, because in any case a tree is much larger than the drawing sheet. To not get lost, it’s better to work in a small section at first.

This way, you can define the size of the tree from the outside. So first you draw a square or rectangle and within this rectangle you then delicately draw the contour of the tree. In Caspar David Friedrich’s work, you can see how he does this with a triangle for softwood trees. For a large hardwood tree, it would be a different shape. So, first, define the contour, very delicately. This also provides a visual orientation.

Then you work out the contour with small elements. With these you highlight the contour again and again. Be it strokes, or small leaves, or wavy lines, or small doodles. You repeat them for the entire structure of the leafage of the tree. You have to look at the tree or the forest very closely. Where does something happen, where doesn’t it? Where does it accumulate? Where does light break through?

Only at the end do you think about the trunk or parts of a branch, with two parallel lines. It depends a lot on what is happening in your drawing. The picture or impression from nature is a suggestion, but the logic develops out of the drawing. That’s what you respond to.

This exercise will cost you a little effort because it seems like a lot of work. But it’s very rewarding because the drawing will tell you a lot about the nature of trees. A tree has so many good qualities. It’s a miracle. It gives out oxygen all the time. The air we need to breathe. In summer, it provides coolness and shade. I imagined that if everyone in the world planted a tree, the climate would change a little bit. Trees are like a universe in themselves. A universe for all sorts of animals and for other plants that can nestle and live in it. On the conifers it’s mosses and lichens. On the deciduous trees also ivy, mistletoe, and mosses. Birds nest on trees, squirrels and countless other animals live or feed in a tree. A rowan tree can feed over fifty species of birds, bearing the red rowan berries in the fall. That’s how fantastic a being a tree is!
If it seems overwhelming, study just one leaf or one little branch. Already from the study of the small leaves you can learn so much about how it works in the drawing. Enjoy looking at the tree. Enjoy it and become aware of what a miracle the tree is.

Consciously breathe the air the tree produces. You can also hug the tree and feel its energy. Experience the wonder of the tree with all your senses. Maybe the tree ha a certain smell. Maybe you hear something in the tree. Maybe it rustles. How does it feel? What does it look like? Notice all the phenomena. It’s a gift, a gift that you can give to yourselves. As always, sit down well at the table, which is your drawing table for your session, or at the spot you’ve found in the forest. Have a beautiful drawing time!