Drawing Masterclass: Trees

Reviews / Votes

Jan 17



Books on trees do not come along with great frequency, so this is welcome on that basis alone. It is also magnificently comprehensive and covers not only most of the tree species you will find in britain, but alsoo, more generally, shapes and structures. Denis John-Naylor explains and demonstrates ways of dealing with much of the detail: foliage, both as cover and individual leaves, bark, trunks, branches and twigs. The result will aid you whether you want to make a portrait of a tree, have it as a major landscape feature, or simply include a distant line of trees. Although the book is about drawing, much of the description and analysis could be supplied to any medium and the demonstrations dealing with how a picture builds up are particularly useful. It's definitely worth a look. * The Artist * Interesting book, giving you some history of trees in art. the book covers materials used and paper surfaces, line drawing tonal drawing and creating texture when drawing trees. its a shame it doesn't have more photos of trees to encourage you to draw your own version. it goes through every part of the tree from leaves, branches, roots and bark telling you how to create texture and tone when drawing them .there is also lots of drawing of different types of trees to inspire you. there are a lot of very useful tips thought the book and he does tell you information about different trees and there growth patterns. would recommend it. * Jill Birks * Another classic from Search Press and a must have if you love trees but are having difficulties portraying them realistically. Inspirational easy to follow instructions complete with

7 step-by-step demonstrations. Highly recommended. * Dawn Spink * Summer 2016



Leisure Painter contributor, Denis John Naylor shows us how to capture the beauty of tress in pencil, with his latest book, Drawing Masterclass: Trees. The book opens with a history of drawing and the materials and techniques used before moving on to step-by-step projects. Through detailed studies, Denis will shouw you how to hone your drawing skills, using the beauty of the medium to capture trees of all kinds and minute detail, from root studies to leaves, boles to bark. * The Leisure Painter * If you want a comprehensive guide to drawing almost any variety of tree using pencils or pens (including ballpoints), you need look no further than this.



As befits a masterclass, this begins with materials and surfaces and moves to methods, including the use of photographs and measured drawing as well as the all-important line and tone that are the mainstay of the work included. There is then a discussion of the shape of individual trees, both in full leaf and as bare branches in winter. This is a valuable section that explains the way trees vary as much as people in terms of individuality and stresses the importance of observation. The bulk of the book is then taken up by a series of exercises that work through the ideas and techniques previously discussed and introduce further detail and with the depiction of trees in a landscape, which is probably how most people are going to draw them.



The structure and artwork are superb. * Artbookreview.net * Trees are all around us and many of us admire their beauty, but capturing it on paper looks like a difficult task. In this book, the author sets out to show that it is possible, and that you don't need to possess that elusive gift of "talent" to make a good job of it.



The introduction to this book contains much cheering advice for those with less than perfect drawing skills; being able to write already means that we possess some pen-wielding talent. Following on from a brief look at the history of trees in art, there is a look at what tools you require and why the author rates one item over another. Learning about the reason for the artist's choice is always a good start, as the examples of pencil marks on various types of paper. Topics covered include sketching and how to observe, recording with a camera and some basic exercises such as building up a branch with more details and working out the proportions of any tree you are going to draw. Personally, I would prefer more examples with plenty of stages and fewer words, and think that the person who would benefit best from this book is somebody who already has art experience and wants to branch out (pardon the pun) into trees. Other chapters contain finished drawings of a variety of different trees with comments about their shape, foliage, etc., and a few staged examples of how to build up several drawings. More stages might be useful for a total beginner, but it is helpful to see each new stage of the drawing is added. Other chapters examine details of trees such as bark, boles, branches, etc., although leaves are not much touched upon. After looking briefly at trees in landscapes, there are three final projects to tackle which draw together what you have learned. I have seen more beginner friendly books, but if you already have some drawing skill and want to add trees to your repertoire, working through this primer ought to be a useful experience. * Myshelf.com *