Its limbs all torn from the day it was born for the tree was born in a thunderstorm.
Grow, grow, the lightning tree, it's never too late for you and me;
Grow, grow, the lightning tree; never give in too easily."
Ah, to be so very young again. Are you singing along or have I lost you completely now? The words are the opening lines of the theme tune to a children's program called Follyfoot which was shown here in the UK way, way back in the early 70s when it was cool to wear flares and tank tops and you spent all your pocket money on the latest single by grown men who wore even more ridiculous flares and garish coloured tank tops! I was a big fan of the programme, loved the song, and was always fascinated by the lightning tree.So I couldn't resist sketching this very special tree on the saturday dog walk. It doesn't stand in the middle of a field but it is down in the meadow. Despite appearing to have taken the full force of nature, noticeable in its shortened and blackened upper branches, it hasn't given in too easily and has still managed to produce some new growth on a few of its lower branches.
The original sketch was done in pencil in a small moleskine and, despite the problems of moleskines and wet paint, I decided to add some watercolour, Inktense pencil and a few scribbles with a pigment liner later at home.
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| The Lightning Tree, Hartford |
Beautiful vivid colour, Micahel. And love the tree. I need to get out more and sketch outside - if only it would stop raining!
ReplyDeleteHi Anita, vielen dank! It's ... ahem ... persistently raining here too and just so unbelievably cold for a summer month. This was done during a brief gap in the clouds. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the tree and the colours! Typical English tree, no trees like that over here. But we do have rain here too.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like it's recovering quite nicely! Lovely sketch Michael. I can't keep up! :0)
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra. Thank you! Yes I have gone a bit mad with my posts recently. I'll probably take a short break and concentrate on doing a 'big' painting/drawing. Speaking of which, how's the watercolour coming on ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Judy, and thank you! I'm not sure what kind of tree it is - I must get myself a book on trees and learn to recognise them. The rain has actually stopped here ... for now anyway :)
ReplyDeleteoh dear.... isn't it cool to wear flares and tank tops anymore?.... no one told me. If I wait long enough maybe they'll come back 'in' ;o)
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely sketch, I like the zingy colours. Inktense are great for that aren't they. I'll look forward to more.
Thank you, Lisa. Get those tanktops and flares up on eBay - just call them Old School and you'll make an absolute fortune :o)
ReplyDeleteI love Inktense: the only problem I've found is unactivated pigment sometimes gets activated and bleeds through if you apply water to the next page in a sketch book - result new sketch and old sketch are spoiled!
Michael, thank you for the poetry which reminds me of student times, flared velvet trousers, platform soles and heels and kipper ties. Those were the days!! This is a nice painting and lest the comment gets missed I would like to say how much I like your New Horizons charcoal landscape posted 9th June.It has a good convincing feel about it, all down to skilful observation and tonal interpretation.
ReplyDeleteRoger, thank you for your kind comments and for popping over here! Yes indeed, the 70s were a wonderful time to be growing up although I wasn't very happy with trying to do my homework by candlelight during power cuts! I have really enjoyed experimenting with charcoal but now I'd like to use what I've learnt and apply that with pastels and other coloured media :)
ReplyDeleteGosh, that song transported me back! I remember Follyfoot - and if you'd have painted a young foal too, then we'd almost have the opening scene!
ReplyDeleteAs it is, you done a great sketch - one that I'd recognise from many country lanes. Bravo ! xx
Thank you very much Pat. I thought you would remember it. Hope you managed to transport yourself back to the current time in time for breakfast :-)
ReplyDeleteAh Follyfoot ;) I was at that age when I wanted a pony esp living in the country.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful painting.
Thank you for kind thoughts. Yes I'm starting to feel better.
Hi Sue, thank you. I guess Follyfoot wasn't really meant for boys but I watched it regardless - I think I had the christmas annual once too LOL. I'm very glad to hear you're on the mend :) !
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