Sketching My World Day 4

Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved.  

You ever notice that trees do everything to git attention we do, except walk?

Alice Walker, the Color Purple, 1982

There is a gorgeous stand of pines in a park near our town.  This morning I walked the trails there, camera and sketchbook in hand.

The pines are very tall and sometimes they sway wildly in the breeze.  Often the branches creak and pop as the wind blows through them and I imagine entire trees are about to blow right over and smash me flat.  I am oh so brave as I walk defiantly through this dancing cathedral of leaves and limbs.

Today was a linger in the park kind of day...a take time to breathe and appreciate the beauty kind of day.  I stopped and took notes about the swaying creaking pines and made a few sketches in my journal.

I sketched part of a dead tree so I could study the forms of the branches without the leaves being in the way,

and experimented a bit with layers and textures.

This Sketching My World project really helps me remember to look closely at everything around me.  Today I noticed that pine branches extend almost horizontally from the trunk except at the top of the tree, where they reach upward.  I looked for patterns in the bark even though I'm relatively sure I'll never find one. 

What about you?  Do you sketch daily?  How does making that kind of commitment help yo move your art forward?

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