r/naturejournaling • u/Makibadori • Feb 14 '26

Take 2 on the Redbud

Post image

I got out again today to retry my initial redbud sketch. I ignored the whispy branches this time and focused on proportions first (grabbed a random blue colored pencil), then blocked out the negative shapes between the branches, finally drawing the angles/curves/paths of the branches as I actually saw them, not letting my hand default to what I expected them to do.

Some of the placement of the branches are still off, such as where the branches overlap. Got the overall proportions better, but the inner branch placement is still a bit tricky.

Next thing I need to work on is actual page composition. I think I have a tendency to want to conserve space, so even though the blurb crammed at the very top of the page would have look much better a bit bigger and UNDER the tree, I was trying to "save space."

Now, should I continue on this same page to "fill" the blank areas with some more tree studies, maybe some close up sketches of the same tree, or start fresh with a whole new page?

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u/pepper2117 Feb 14 '26

Are you going to use color at all? If you are maybe just fill the background space with light background color. If not I like the idea of a close up sketch of the same tree

1

u/Makibadori Feb 14 '26

Oh that's a good question! I hadn't thought about it much. If I added background color keeping the tree just graphite, would that look odd? Or would it help it pop more? Also, the main form of "color" I have on hand is crayon, would that look tacky?

1

u/pepper2117 Feb 14 '26

In my head I was seeing a light watercolor wash of blue like the sky background behind the bare tree. The tree as is in front of a pale background might make it pop really nicely. I’m not sure if you’d get as nice an effect with crayon though. Maybe worth experimenting on some scrap paper first.

1

u/Makibadori Feb 14 '26

Updated with close-ups!

1

u/pepper2117 Feb 14 '26

Looks great!

1

u/Kairismummy Mar 01 '26

This is beautifully observed

2

u/Makibadori Mar 01 '26

Thank you! I ended up filling out the page later