During these studies of trees, which have made me really look at trees all the time, I’ve developed a particular liking for oaks, every one being so different with such interesting angular shapes, and also for birches, with their elegant limbs and fluttery leaves. This beautiful mature birch is on a farm track near my husband’s workshop and I sat for a few hours one sunny afternoon drawing it. It is now known as ‘my tree’…

There are no progress pictures as I was too engrossed. I used a sepia fine-point drawing pen on white cartridge paper. This was perfect for rendering all the tiny twigs and the striations in the characteristic bark. I’m very pleased with this drawing and think I’ve captured the shadows quite well, and achieved effective simplification of the upper foliage.