Sketchbook Practice: Drawing Fantasy Trees

As I've mentioned before, I keep a sketchbook and an art journal where I practice my art. 

I once was so overwhelmed by the scary blank page. What will I draw? How can I fill the whole page? What if what I make turns out terrible? 

So much negative self talk. 

Over the years, I've learned to treat every page as practice. Just practice. Nobody needs to see it. I don't have to post it anywhere. I'm just playing. It doesn't have to be perfect.

These are some of the learnings I picked up from Sketchbook Revival, an online workshop taught by very talented artists. I've been attending for several years now and if you'd like to participate, get on the list for details and updates.  

One of the artists is Este MacLeod, a surface pattern designer and teacher. In her workshop, she taught us fun approaches to create trees in watercolor. 

Above are Este MacLeod's drawings and here are her tips:

• Create interesting tree-like shapes just by writing down and combining the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3.
• Use a cardboard roll stamp or handmade stencils to form the tree.
•  Make a multitude of effects through layering of color, lines, and marks.

Her trees really look whimsical, don't they?

Let me try out Este's techniques in my art journal (an old book). 

First, I covered the pages in gesso. It's really a surface primer to make the paint grip better, but I also like it because it tones down the text and drawings on the page. You still see a hint of them but they just add dimension, not distraction. 

While I let the gesso dry, I find an empty paper towel roll and cut it into smaller circles.

I put some green acrylic paint on a flat surface (yogurt container lid) and used the cardboard circle as a stamp: dip it in the paint and stamp it on the paper. I made different circles and slightly pinched the cardboard circle to make oblong shapes, too.

With a paintbrush and the same acrylic paint, I filled the circles/oblongs with patterns like stripes, dots, lines and curves. I put this aside to dry. 

I added color to each circle/oblong using crayons, colored pencils and collage...TADA!

I added the tree trunks using another cardboard circle (pinched to form a rectangle), filled it in with brown paint, and let it dry. 

I just added some background color (ex. blue sky, green grass) and there you have it, my fantasy trees!

And that is how a transformed a blank page from blah to TADA!

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