One Maple, Two Ways

 

2/12/26 reference photo (Caran d'Ache Neocolor II, Derwent Inktense Blocks, Derwent Drawing pencil)

Looking at these two sketches made from the same reference photo, you might guess that I made the monochrome one first as a values study, then executed the color version.

Actually, the path I took was less straightforward. Initially planning to make another fanciful tree character, I was searching through my folder of tree images for ideas. Before I could find the right trunk, I came upon this photo that I had taken a couple of summers ago. Despite the chunk taken out of the left side of its crown to accommodate power lines, this huge maple is glorious in the fall, and I’ve sketched it both from life and from photos (it’s a little precarious from life, as I have to stand on the traffic roundabout one block south to get this view). Yet I’ve probably never sketched it in the middle of summer when the foliage is green. Seeing this photo made me want to pull out some water-soluble materials.

After finishing the color version, I still wasn’t done: A monochrome study is satisfying in different ways. I pulled out a colored pencil for one more study.

2/12/26 photo reference (Derwent Drawing pencil)