Tree again again!

It's been a while since I blogged, mainly because I was off gallivanting around Melbourne, Australia visiting my family and meeting my gorgeous niece Ela.

But I'm back in Vancouver with the Olympics party in full swing. As soon as I got back I became re-captivated by those bare trees - again!

I know I should be drawing the athletes, the crazy crowds downtown or the snow-less slopes but all I can look at is those gorgeous dwindling branches... I just want to hug them! They must be anxious for spring to come (which by the way looks like its almost here).

So, here's another, well, tree, this time on a great big new sketch pad using conte and charcoal. Done on the studio floor.

Tree again!

Today I'm stretching and priming a 30x30" piece of canvas... not sure what I'll paint on it yet but I feel like getting my hands dirty and I wanted to use some materials I have left over from Costa Rica.

So, while I wait for the first coat to dry I thought I'd share another tree I drew a couple of weeks ago. This one is an actual tree that is on the corner of my street. I used shellac based black ink on some left over printmaking paper - probably not the best surface to use inks on as it is quite thick and sucked up all my ink instantly so was a little hard to have a nice flow.

Anyway, here it is. I'm really enjoying looking at and sketching trees (when it stops raining in Vancouver) so I think I'm going to continue and start a little tree collection.

Back to priming!