New shoots

An update on a man initiated/natural process which has fascinated me -
The 2000 year old coppiced lime tree at Westonbirt Arboretum has begun to show very positive signs of life again. It seemed as though the cutting back of this tree last year was done with an edge of nervousness, but here it is bursting forth with luscious lime green shoots:

 

The tree is now a number of small offshoots from the original trunk, sprouting into what look like shrubs, protected at the moment from the deer that roam the arboretum. Rising amongst these shoots is the land sculpture to celebrate the coppicing.

 

 

 

 

Charcoal Sketch of Coppiced Lime

Another foray into sketching with my new Nitram charcoal led me to working with my photos from Westonbirt of the 2000 year old lime. I thought the dramatic lines of the logs and stumps would suit charcoal well, but its proved harder than I thought. I've put the drawing away for a couple of weeks and looking at it again I can see some potential:

Coppiced lime - 1st state, Nitram charcoal

Hockney's charcoal sketches

 

But then I got my Hockney book out and looking at his drawings of felled trees makes me think that I need more tonal seperation. I'm not ready to give up on this one yet, there will need to be second chapter to this piece before its done.