anxa 84-B 4374 vvvvyvy 'H f I * A» fW Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/treeshowtodrawthOOdela TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. PHILIP H. DELAMOTTE, Professor of Fine Art in King’s College, London; Author of ‘Sketching from Nature in Water-Colours,’ &c. to proftat arttficem. SECOND EDITION. LONDON: WINSOR AND NEWTON, Limited, 38, RATH BONE PLACE, W. 1886. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Branches in Spring Frontispiece. Oak Oak Branches . Elm Foliage Ash . Beech Chestnut . Birch Plate I. Plate II. Plate III. Plate IV. Plate V. Plate VI. Plate VII. Plate VIII. PAGE 14 • 35 • 3 6 • 39 . 40 • 43 • 57 CONTENTS. PART I. Trees and foliage : the necessity for their study The general forms of trees • Stems .••••' Branches . . • • • Foliage ..•••• Trees at various distances . • • ' Of the various means of representing trees : manipulation . PAGE I 4 7 xo 15 21 23 PART II Individual Trees . The Oak The Elm The Ash The Beech The Chestnut The Walnut . The Poplar . The Cypress . The Willow . The Lime, or Linden The Plane and Sycamore The Alder The Maple . The Rowan, or Mountain Ash The Birch 31 3i 35 37 40 42 44 45 48 49 5i 53 54 54 55 56 VI CONTENTS. PAGE Individual Trees : The Holly ......... 57 The Ilex ......... 58 The Acacia ......... 59 The Larch ......... 60 The Cedar . . . . . . . . .61 The Scotch Fir ........ 64 Pines and Firs ........ 66 The Yew ......... 67 ' Other foliage ......... 68 Concluding Remarks ........ 72 Introduction for Scales of Tints ...... 75 Scale of Tints for painting Trees in Water-colours . . 76-79 TREES AND FOLIAGE. TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. PART I. TREES AND FOLIAGE. THE NECESSITY FOR THEIR STUDY. “ No tree in all the grove but has its charms.”—COWPER. THE beauty of English landscape-scenery depends almost entirely upon its trees and foliage. In many another country trees form an important factor in the view, but in England they form the view itself. We may have distances of various degrees, hills and valleys, but mountains we can scarcely be said to possess; and the trees in foreground, in middle dis¬ tances, or melting into the tones of the horizon, are the principal ingredients from which almost every English scene must be composed. How necessary it becomes then for every one who would portray English landscape to study and master the various effects produced by trees! Where so much depends upon foliage, there must be no ignorance, no carelessness. The landscape-painter must of course know every effect produced upon his principal subject- B TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. 2 matter ; but, further than this, the figure-painter, too, must be fairly acquainted with some of the details and effects of trees, or he will constantly find himself at a loss for a natural background. This knowledge is not to be picked up in a day, nor to be mastered by an occasional study just when it is required, but we must take Nature’s moods as she produces them. In sun¬ shine and in shower her effects must be carefully noted : the stem and the bark must be learnt in winter, the buds and flowers must be caught as spring advances, the masses of leaves and laden boughs must be sought out “in the leafy month of June,” and the autumnal tints will attract from the time when the first tinge of yellow tells of shortening days, far on into the duller times “ When yellow leaves, or none or few do hang Upon the boughs which shake against the cold.”— Shaks. Sonn. Each must be taken in its season, and each sought out in its own habitation. We cannot go about and pick up a model tree and for a stated sum induce it to pose in our studio for the appointed time, but we must wait patiently upon Nature, or “ He that will not when he may, When he would he shall have nay.” No art requires more patient watching than land¬ scape-painting, none demands more rapid using of opportunities, and none repays these requirements more ungrudgingly with calm satisfaction. In continental countries there may be even more trees than in England, for, coal being absent, they are required in enormous quantities for fuel; the hill-sides, therefore, are covered with woods of pine and other TREES IN ENGLISH LANDSCAPE. 3 growth suitable for fire-wood ; but in England alone do we find trees growing in solitary grandeur, or in groups “ A brotherhood of venerable trees,’ and so developing their full individual beauty. Continental landscape will demand the massing of foliage and of trunks for distance or for middle distance, a beauty not to be lost sight of in our own island; but here we require still further the individual study in the foreground, not merely of general form and out¬ line, but also of every detail of loot and stem, of branch and twig, of leaf and bud. A knowledge of this kind is not to be acquired in a casual way in occa¬ sional country walks. Besides, an artist cannot paint what he cannot understand—a portrait-painter cannot delineate the whole man unless he sympathizes with or at all events understands something of the character, the aims, and the failings of his sitter ; and so the landscape-painter cannot reproduce the trees he may have before him unless he understands the secret of their growth, their idiosyncrasies, their habits and their tastes ; he must possess in reality a knowledge of the principles, if not of the long-winded names, of the science of botany. Trees must become his friends , like the Duke and his lords in As You Like It , he must lie ‘ under the greenwood tree ’ feeding his melancholy by a song with Monsieur Jaques : “ Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather ”— learning to know each plant by its “ antique root,” as it “peeps out upon the brook that brawls along the B 2 4 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. wocd.” Their rustling will answer to his thoughts, and lay bare many a secret of their aged growth. He will “ In this our life exempt from public haunt, Find tongues in trees, books in the running brook, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.” THE GENERAL FORMS OF TREES. The first thing to be remembered is, that a tree is a rounded object; it possesses in a general way as much depth as width ; it cannot be cut out in paper, like those silhouettes our grandfathers were so fond of, and stuck upon a picture. A tree consists, first of all, of a stem, fixed firmly in the ground, held there by widely- spreading roots which are mostly hidden, but like many hidden things most important to the well-being of the plant. This stem rises into the air as nearly perpendicularly as circumstances will allow it, and after growing freely for some little distance, differing according to the kind, it develops into branches, various again in their sizes, usually beginning large and gradually lessening until they end in mere twigs as the head of the tree is reached. Each branch again spreads out into smaller boughs, until as they extend to the outer surface, these, too, become twigs. The twigs finally carry leaves and flowers and fruit accord¬ ing to the season and the sort. For the right appreciation of each tree, we should know something of its roots, its stem, its branches, twigs and leaves, with, in some cases, a further know¬ ledge of its flowers and fruit. It is not sufficient either to know merely the out- PARTS OF TREES. 5 side development of those parts, we must understand their inner causes and tendencies ; for though an artist has to reproduce only what he sees, and not, like a child or a Chinaman, to draw what he knows to be there rather than what his sense of sight alone tells him really is there, still none of us can use our sight so well that we see everything before us when we do not under¬ stand it. Those who know what to look for are much less at a loss than those whose wits are bewildered by a multiplicity of details to which they have no clue. Thus we must not only notice how each root spreads and with what kind of a covering it is marked, but how it overcomes the difficulties of various soils. We must note how each stem strives to support in different fashion its massy weight of branches and of leaves, to withstand the force of prevailing winds, multiplied by the leverage of lengthy boughs ; how it has curved and recurved itself as some of these forces have increased or diminished in the years of its growth ; and to this again we must add a knowledge of the mere exterior ; how the bark is gnarled or smooth, rugged or moss- grown, in various species, in different situations, and on opposite sides. The angles at which branches shoot forth from the parent trunk will form another subject for attention, to be dotted down in the sketch-book from time to time and to be laid up in the memory for use on future occasions. Various species of trees and different parts of the same tree are not alike in this matter, and the surroundings of a tree, whether it has been shut up amidst a number of its brethren, or has had free chance of developing its full growth unrestricted by any neighbours, make a great diversity 6 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. in the direction of its branches, The presence or absence of human beings and of cattle makes a great difference to the lower branches of trees, even when the former have not wilfully disfigured them by trimming up the much-suffering stem like a hop-pole or ship’s mast. Trees in an avenue grow differently from the way the same kind of tree would grow under more open circumstances ; the branches on the inner sides of the trees are affected by the obstruction of those opposite and take an upward turn, particularly the lower ones. On the outward sides of the trees the very reverse is the case. Trees growing upon hill-sides and sloping banks are affected in their stem and branch growth by their position. The leaves pass through a number of developments, from the bud to the opening leaf, from the tenderest green delicately tempting the early breezes, through sturdier colour and stronger form, until a change of time to yellow, brown, or orange betrays the weakness of old age and the inclination to leave the twig to which it can no longer cling. Form and colour alike change and decay whilst the whole tree is gradually tending in the same direction ; certain portions more exposed to the inclemency of the weather move more quickly to their destined goal, whilst others, protected by some favouring circumstances, begin long after their neighbours have passed this stage. Each kind of tree differs in all these respects, and we shall have hereatter to go through the various kinds individually and note each part and each change that they undergo. ( 7 ) STEMS. As we have said before, a tree is a solid, not a flat body, but it is a solid of which we can more or less see the interior mechanism. The exterior shape is dependent upon the internal arrangement, and this all centres round the stem. Firmly fixed in the earth by means of widely extending roots, how widely stretch¬ ing few have any idea except those who have had practical experience of them, the trunk of a tree forms not only the support of branches and their load of leaves, but it is the central shaft from which all must radiate. Each kind of stem, therefore, of different-growing trees, each class of tree, each differ¬ ently-placed tree of the same kind, will have its distinct individuality and will present peculiarities of its own. We give in figures I, 2 and 3 studies which will suggest some of these peculiarities ; the student must make many more such studies for himself. It is no use hoping to acquire a style, to learn to draw trees as Mr. A., B., or C. draws them, without going through the process that these gentlemen have prac¬ tised, and then we shall not want their style, but we must have acquired one for ourselves. It is no use trying to see with other people’s eyes, looking out for a bit of landscape which is suggestive of some eminent painter’s style, and whilst taking the main outlines from what is before us, really producing what is only a reminiscence of another man’s work. When we attempt to draw or paint a certain tree, we must take that tree’s portrait, with all its character and all its 8 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. individuality as distinctly marked as we can see it; we must not paint or draw such a tree as we remem¬ ber to have seen in some picture which has greatly struck us, only taking the general form from the one before us. So we must begin with the stems. We must study the individuality of each class of tree, the gnarled and irregular shape of the oak, the firm, straight, strong stem of the elm, the tall and upright fir, the slender, graceful birch, the pliant, yielding growth of the willow, the smooth and rounded beech ; each of them taking innumerable varieties of form, yet preserving the general characteristics of the kind beneath all these differences. Another point which requires notice is the height at which branches first begin to spring. In some trees, especially those which have ever stood alone, unimpeded by neighbours, the limbs start low upon the trunk, and bending downwards, almost conceal the stem from view. This is the case with many of the less common sorts of fir, especially those which grow upon lawns. On the other hand, Scotch firs, cedars and others, scarcely send forth a foliage-bearing twig until within a few feet of their utmost height. The oak we see presents excrescences in all sorts of strange and unexpected places ; it shows no straight and smooth line, but is ever changing the direction of its outline with abrupt curves. Other trees present almost unbroken lines from the root to the topmost twig. Between these extremes there is an infinite variety of modification. Some gradually curve out¬ wards as they develop into branches, others bulge forth on the side opposite to the branch, and the VARIOUS STEMS. 9 stem curves away from the branch almost as much as the branch leans away from the stem. All these peculiarities have their effect upon the bark. The rapid curves of the oak break the bark up into a rugged and uneven surface. The elm, again, bursts its bark, causing large cracks to which weathci, insects, and various growths combine to give a multi¬ tude of hues and effects. The beech, on the other hand, is ever smooth and delicate, but it even affoids a hold for moss and other growths on the more protected side of the tree. Ferns, too, find a lodge¬ ment, though not in such quantities as on some oaks and other rough-coated trunks. The willow often affords a study of great variety ; the old stem shows a bark much lacerated by wintry weather, whilst the young rods that form the heading where the older branches have been pollarded, are smooth and fresh, without crack or flaw. The demarcations of a Scotch fir form a most interesting study, both of form and colour, whilst the sycamore presents a totally diffe¬ rent, though not often such a picturesque appearance. The peeling off of large patches in this latter species presents a blotchy and not pleasing effect. The sweet chestnut, given in Plate VII., shows a very marked and peculiar form, suggesting the idea of a screw. In drawing stems and branches it is necessaiy to use such lines as will best show the character of the bark of the different trees, and to consider whether the lines should be regular and fine, to express the smooth, thin and even bark of the beech, or be broad, irregular, and crooked, to mark the network of the chestnut or crackled casing of the oak. The way the bark is drawn will help very considerably to give a 10 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. correct representation of a particular kind of tree, if it be drawn characteristically. The lines used in expressing the bark will easily be made to assist in giving the impression of roundness to stems and also to branches. The bark is usually most marked and furrowed near the root, and on the branches near their union with the stem. We have indicated but a few of the most striking of the peculiarities of tree-stems. To gain a real knowledge of tree-stems, every one must study them for himself; and by studying we mean making use of that sixth sense which the sketcher possesses of seeing things as they really appear, because he commits to paper and to memory the actual forms he sees before him. The stems and the roots of trees can best be sketched in the winter : the foliage does not then interfere with the full examination of all that you require, and you will learn the anatomy of each kind. Though the luxuriance of summer and the variety of autumn overwhelm one with their beauty, still winter, too, has its own excellences, and there are points in winter landscape which are invaluable to the true artist. BRANCHES. From the stems spring branches, but this they do in a great variety of ways, even in the same tree, and the branches themselves have marked peculiarities. The bark on which we remarked above is common to stems and branches alike, but it necessarily takes a new character on the smaller surfaces, and the youth VARIOUS KINDS OF BRANCH. II of the limb, compared to the original trunk, makes another cause of variety. In some trees, as for instance in the ash (fig. I, plate I), the branches diverge from the parent trunk at a very small angle ; but the branch curves outwaid, so that this angle goes on increasing the further the branch gets away from the stem. In these trees the lower branches curve greatly, for they begin with growing almost perpendicularly, and they end with turning down again almost in the opposite direction , the upper branches have no such necessity, and these continue almost straight, but being very numerous as we see them from below, they appear almost to interlace amid the semi-transparent foliage of this lightly-growing tree. Between the two we get every conceivable curve. An oak sends forth huge limbs from its sturdy trunk almost at right angles, and these again have smaller shoots at all kinds of queer and crabbed angles. (Fig. 2, plate I.) We now see the use of the hard and knotted stem, and the antique root cropping out of bank or hill-side, in supporting the widely- spreading limbs and branches. Sharp angularity seems the main characteristic of the tree, from its root to its topmost twig, and even to its crinkled leaves. The willow branch, again, the emblem of pliancy, separates off like the ash at a small angle, but then it does not curve round like the other, but continues in a nearly straight line to the surface of the foliage, so that a pollard willow looks something like a pin¬ cushion stuck full of pins bristling out in all direc¬ tions (fig. 3, plate I). Weeping willows, like weeping 12 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. ashes, and other similar trees, send their branches downwards, but these are rather garden shrubs than features in a landscape. The one tree that we meet with in a state of nature that produces this character of foliation, is the birch. (Plate I, fig. 4.) This, as will be seen, is quite distinct from the willow, and though apparently wanting in strength to support itself and its foliage, it is tough, and by its angularity shows a strength of its own which enables it to live on soils and in positions where other trees will not exist. Other trees, too, have their individuality. The Scotch fir, so picturesque in its peculiarity, sends out branches only near its summit, like the other mem¬ bers of the fir family always at right angles, and these immediately curve upwards, and produce a multitude of twigs which curve upwards, too, and form a network that resembles very closely the foliage that it supports. The poplar, again, which is very effective amongst the more rounded lines of other trees, but which becomes painfully monotonous when repeated frequently as we see it along the roads of many continental countries, has an interlacing of upward-trending twigs, visible enough in the lower parts of aged trees and where the foliage is destroyed from any cause, but it has no large branches unless the main stem separates into two almost equal branches. Other trees have each their marked peculiarity, in the way in which their branches leave the parent stem and then spread themselves according to the portion of the tree they came from. As a rule, the lower branches turn downwards, the highest tend upwards almost straight, the intermediate ones adapting them¬ selves to the space that is left between. The angle at FULL OR PARTIAL DEVELOPMENT. 13 which the branch leaves the stem naturally detei mines the direction it will afterwards take. Some trees we seldom see in their natural develop¬ ment, for the requirements of husbandry, or the mode in which they are planted together, prevents their ac¬ quiring the form that Nature has designed for them.. . The one most frequently disfigured in this way is’ the elm, which, when it stands in a hedgerow, is sure to be trimmed up almost to its head, and so to be fringed with a growth of twigs all up its stuidy stem. If on the other hand it forms one of “ a brotherhood of venerable trees,” the pressure of its neighbours cui tails the luxuriance of its lateral expansion, and again it springs up tall but not widely spreading. Only when a solitary patriarch is left in meadow or in park does it develop its full grandeur, and reach in magnificence almost to its older compeer, the broad-limbed English oak. And it is in England alone, too, that the oak reaches its full proportion ; for on the continent it is almost invariably planted with a thickly-studded company, so that all alike rear upwards, each to obtain as large a share of the air and light of heaven as it can. In studying the branches of trees, we must especially remember the roundness and the solidity of which we spoke at first, arising from the branches all radiating from a central stem. Thus, some limbs advance towards us, others recede from us, besides those which we observe more readily, the ones which spread in both directions sideways. The drawing of an advan¬ cing or receding branch must always be more or less difficult, because we must allow for the foreshortening or perspective of the unequally-decreasing rod, but the curves or angles up or down, which may be easily 14 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. reproduced when seen in profile, as it were, become more complicated and perplexing when coming for¬ ward or retreating into the distance. But it will not do to avoid these difficulties. We may often see pictures by men, even of some eminence in their profession, where the trees branch only laterally; but however well the deficiency is concealed, this must always cause a flatness, and so a weakness, in the work. A careful study of an advancing branch in winter¬ time is to the landscape-painter what a drawing of a foreshortened skeleton is to a figure-painter, and some¬ thing more : for the winter sketch is a possible portion of a future landscape, whilst a skeleton represents only knowledge which can never be used in its crude form, and which will require to be clothed with flesh before it can become a pleasing object. A studied drawing of an advancing limb, clothed in its summer foliage is in itself a beautiful object as well as a lesson in the configuration of the tree-form. The receding branches are not so often seen, because the whole bulk of the tree lies between the spectator and his object, and besides it is not so difficult to draw because the lines of the perspective coincide with those of the diminution of the size of the branch. When you have drawn a branch in winter, as has been suggested above, it is well to take the same, or a branch of a similar kind of tree, when the spring has begun to clothe it with its early foliage ; and again, when spring has passed into summer, repeat the process, particularly emphasizing the change in the leaves. You will find that they droop more than they did, bearing the branches that support them down- Plate I P H OKLAMOTTE. Branches in Spring. MACl & C° I / STUDY AT DIFFERENT SEASONS. 15 wards also, thus showing the first signs of that decay which is sure to follow. When the hot days and cold nights of autumn make it apparent that the summer is over, draw your branch once more in the last stage of richly-coloured leaves sickening to their fall. They will then be few in number, and the anatomy of the tree will again become apparent as it was in winter and in early spring. The oak of all common trees retains its foliage longest ; the beech, however, keeps a fair proportion of its leaves, and a plantation in which fir trees are mixed with beeches forms a very pleasing subject even in the midst of winter. When the individual limbs have been carefully studied, the whole outline of the tree will not present any great difficulties, for the study of the part will explain the conformation of the whole. But here again the seasons make alterations, and trees that have been committed to paper in one period should be studied again in each of the others, and the differences produced by the mass of foliage should be carefully marked. In this way the life of the tree from year to year will be understood. FOLIAGE. That which is after all most distinctive of trees is their foliage. The stems and the branches form the skeleton, but the foliage is the flesh and skin and complexion, which is what we mainly look to. And it is the foliage which is the chief difficulty in the repre¬ sentation of trees, for the other parts may be repro¬ duced by a skilful draughtsman even if he have no 1 6 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. special knowledge of the subject ; but a figure-painter set down for the first time before some mighty oak or a delicate birch tree, overwhelmed with the mul¬ titude of individual leaves, lying at all angles to him, would fail completely at first to give even the general appearance of the object before him. The truth is, that it is impossible, and it is utterly useless too, to represent the outline of every scrap of foliage in a large tree. All that can be done is to give the general effect, and in a few of the more prominent parts to suggest the actual forms of the leaves ; the imagination of the spectator, which must have its play in all works of art, will supply the rest, and fill in the spaces indicated with details that are not, and need not be, represented. But though every minute detail is not requisite, still it is necessary to indicate generally the texture, as it were, of the whole, and this only can be done by a special form of line for each kind of foliage. The sole way in which this is to be satisfactorily accomplished is by studying the different varieties of foliage at varying distances. We must begin with a small branch or twig, and draw each leaf on it in a careful manner, getting the full shape of the leaves and the general arrangement of them towards each other. These require to be drawn only in outline. When these are sufficiently mastered, we may move a little further off, and generalise the treatment a little, that is, we need not draw each individual spray so as to give every minute detail of the points in which that spray differs from all others, but we may get a mode of representing the general effect of a whole spray with one movement of the pencil. Take, for in¬ stance, one of the simplest and most regular, and at the TIMES FOR SKETCHING. 17 same time most effective species of foliage, the horse- chestnut; each leaf has five lobes of three different sizes, one large and two of each of the smaller proportions : these as they bend over are never all equally displayed before us. We must begin with drawing the five lobes in different positions before us. It is a good plan to pick a leaf or two and, holding them at arm’s length, to sketch the outline in one position, then twist it in another, and so on, until the form has become perfectly familiar. We are then prepared to study a portion of the tree itself, getting a sufficient distance from it to generalize most of the leaves, but to enable us to see distinctly the larger and more prominent ones. It is well to remember that in studying trees we must choose the times when they appear most pictu¬ resque. It is of course easiest to go out and sketch in the middle of the day, when dew has gone off the grass and the little preparations of the day have been got through ; and then, having chosen our spot, to go plodding on for hours whilst the sun is traversing a large arc of its daily round ; but this will not produce a satisfactory result. Foliage, like most other things, looks most pleasing under the effects of morning or evening light, when the sunbeams falling at a small angle make long shadows, and when the tinted light of a sun lying near the horizon and the reflection of brilliantly illuminated clouds, produce effects of breadth and tones of light and shade that mingle with and partly overcome the local tints. The clear shining of a summer’s sun far overhead, throwing little circles of shadow beneath the parched-up trees, each leaf of which shines with down-pouring rays, showing its own little speck of light in the midst of deep contrasting C 18 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. shadows, produces none of that element of pictu¬ resqueness which is the first object to be aimed at in choosing a subject for a picture. Then again what has been said above about the pencil is true of all other implements by which pictures are produced. It signifies little whether we study with a point of black lead, chalk, charcoal, or etching- needle, with a brush charged with liquid water-colour or more viscid oils, the process of study must be almost the same. In all cases we must begin by bold attempts at reproducing the distinctly-seen forms of the leaves near to us, separated from the innumerable companions on the parent tree, and when these shapes have become familiar, generalizing, and producing by rapid motion of the hand, figures which, though not strictly accurate forms of the leaves, suggest these forms to every beholder. The oak, the willow, and the beech, have each a marked kind of foliage which requires special study, and may be generalized as in Plates IV and V. Another thing to be guarded against, too, is the acquirement of a mannerism. This it is almost impos¬ sible to avoid altogether, for every man’s work shows the mark of his own individuality just as much as his handwriting does ; but what is to be avoided is the getting into a habit of always representing certain kinds of foliage by one own particular touch, without alteration or adaptation to the circumstances of the case. We must generalize, but at the same time a certain personality and diversity must be introduced so as to avoid a sameness which never occurs in Nature. What we have said above about the horse-chestnut FOLIAGE-MASSES. 19 applies equally well to each kind of tree. The sweet- chestnut has even larger and more distinctly-marked leaves, but they are not divided into lobes : they differ, however, more in size, and they over-lap in a fashion which easily allows of conventional treatment. The elm and the beech have leaves which, when drawn individually, have a considerable amount of similarity, but the general arrangement on the branches is widely different, and this leaves us to consider how important it is to indicate clearly the general form of the masses and the directions that the light falls upon them. The shapes of the masses of foliage are just as specific as the forms of the leaves themselves. These masses will mostly have to be indicated by shade, and thus the direction in which the light falls be¬ comes an important particular and must be carefully remembered. Time slips away very quickly as one is sketching, and one is apt to forget that the sun has moved round a considerable arc since we put in the last bit of shade, or since we began to mark out where the shadows fell, but it will not do to let these be inconsistent with one another; we must remember how the lights fell, or we must calculate what they must have been, or we must wait for another day to bring back the same lights. In all cases, however, the shadows will fall beneath the trees, and the lowest leaves on each branch will be overshadowed by those above them. We shall thus have a firm outline below against any more distant object, as well as a distinct demarcation above against the lighter sky. Each species of tree is quite as distinct in its masses of foliage as it is in its individual leaves, its stem or its bark. It is well to study portions of trees, separate C 2 20 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. branches or projecting masses, with a view to this massing of foliage, for in drawing a whole tree, unless it is drawn upon a very large scale, which it is not advisable that a beginner should attempt, it is impos¬ sible to give much detail, and unless the detail is first mastered, the generalization will be very imperfect, and, as we said before, mannered, that is, a particular set of strokes will be made to do duty for a tree which will not really represent that tree to any eye but the one which has been taught to look at the tree in that particular fashion. When therefore we draw a whole tree, the intricate interlacing of the smaller branches and twigs should be simplified as much as possible, and only the main direction of the twigs and the special character they may have indicated. Careful studies of individual branches are not only useful in teaching us how to represent the general shape of a mass with the foliage, but they are very useful afterwards as assistance in larger pictures; for in many cases all that we see of a tree, and what is quite sufficient to indicate the existence of the whole tree, is a single branch or two, the rest of the growth being hidden by other foliage of its neighbours. Do not be afraid that careful work will ever be thrown away. It is impossible to tell how it may come in, but it is sure some day to find its place when it is least expected. The greater the store of studies may be, the greater will be the variety of foliage that can be introduced into each picture, and there will be no necessity to fall back upon what we are so apt to see in amateurs’ work, a sort of conventional foliage that has to do service for every conceivable kind of tree, The graceful curves of one species may be contrasted VARIETY OF FOLIAGE. 21 with the square forms of another, whilst the various rounded lines may be cut by spire-like shapes of the poplar or the cypress, or intercepted by the over¬ hanging masses of Scotch fir or of cedar. TREES AT VARIOUS DISTANCES. What we have just said about varieties of outlines to be introduced into masses of trees and lines of woods naturally leads us to study the appearance of trees at a distance, or at various distances ; for one cannot study the appearance of a whole grove if we are dose enough to go minutely into the detail of the foliage of each tree. This is one of the cases in which, as the old proverb says, it is impossible to see the wood for the trees. The general appearance of each species of tree at a moderate or at a considerable distance is something quite distinct from the detail as we observe it, when it is the principal object of our study. Here the form, the relation to the surrounding objects, the transparency and general lightness, and the colour, all indicate to us some facts which it is necessary to note if we would be true to Nature. One point certainly will be the relation of the soil to what grows upon it. It will never do to place trees in such situations, and on such geological formations as they were never yet known to grow on. Oaks must not be planted on rocky precipices, nor should firs be found in rich loam. Willows must haunt watercourses, rivers may be fringed with alders or with osiers, but larches must be accommodated with sandy soil, and beeches require some depth of 22 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. strong mould. The natural habitat of each species of foliage must be studied and remembered, and not simply a “ brown tree ” stuck in wherever it is sup¬ posed to look picturesque. It is necessary, too, to remark what trees are to be found together, for though two kinds may be suited to the country that is being delineated, still it is quite possible that the one kind seldom exists side by side with the other, owing to their too great similarity of requirements. It is said, for instance, that if a forest of oak and beech is left to itself to develop as Nature would have it, that in time the oaks would be exter¬ minated by their more rapid growing companions, just as the thorns in the parable choke the good corn. The diversity of general appearance between old and young trees of the same species is perhaps more marked at a distance than it is close at hand, for the foliage and the bark are much the same in both. The younger trees shoot up into taper forms, and are less firmly compacted than their seniors. This perhaps is more striking in the case of elms than in that of any other tree. The young elm sprouts up into a pyramidal cone which is scarcely more picturesque than the things that stand for trees in a box of German toys ; whereas the tree in later growth, if left to itself, becomes rounded and developed into one of the finest of forest trees, and even if trimmed up as they so frequently are when standing in hedgerows, its upper crest retains its natural beauty, and the ugliness of its stem is concealed by the fringe with which it covers its shame, and frequently by standing in rows with others, each helps to hide its neighbour’s deformity. ( 23 ) OF THE VARIOUS MEANS OF REPRESENT¬ ING TREES.—MANIPULATION. There are a variety of materials with which trees may be represented ; the ones most commonly in use among artists, especially in the early days of their artistic career, are the blacklead-pencil, the water¬ colour pencil or brush, and the various hog’s hair tools, and other brushes used in oil-colours. With such diversity of material a considerable difference of handling is necessary. The blacklead-pencil should be specially prepared for these subjects by flattening the lead into a wedge shape instead of a point, so that by turning the pencil one way a sharp clear line may be drawn, whereas by a slight twist, it may form a broad stroke more or less dark, according to the pressure exerted. Many of the strokes used in representing foliage, and to a certain extent bark and stems too, require a graduated free use of broad lines, which represent not only the outline of the leaves or interstices of the bark, but also a certain amount of shading as well. It is ne¬ cessary to have some considerable knowledge of the value of a line before attempting to draw leaves, and this is a knowledge which is not to be described in words, or in writing, but which must be had literally at one's finger ends. It has to be acquired somewhat like a musician’s mastery of his instrument, so that it can be used almost without looking at what is being done, and like the musician’s art, it requires a con¬ siderable amount of time and patience to acquire it. 24 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. No one who has not an intense liking for the result which is sought after can give the labour which is requisite to acquire this power. Many long hours of hard work are spent by those who, after all, never can become even tolerable musicians in acquiring a certain amount of facility over some instrument; it is surely not too much to expect those who wish to obtain a power of representing their idea of form and colour upon paper that they should devote a considerably smaller proportion of time and trouble to overcoming the mechanical difficulties of their work. The practice of the touch required to produce various kinds of foliage is surely not less interesting than practising scales, and it has another advantage, too, that it does not disturb one’s neighbours’ nerves. By constant practice great freedom of hand may be acquired, remembering to move the whole hand from the wrist, keeping the arm well supported and steady. The pencil should be held lightly and tolerably long, not too near the point, and then a rapid action of the thumb and fingers can be obtained. In all sketching it is necessary to begin with a preparatory outline, and trees are no exception to this rule. This should be light, but very careful, for accuracy at first will save much trouble and con¬ fusion in later stages. -The position of the stem and principal branches should be indicated where they can be seen, and wherever they are hidden their position must be remembered and understood, or direful results of top-heavy masses will threaten de¬ struction to all around. When the outline has been roughly indicated, it will be necessary to go over the PENCIL MANIPULATION. 25 whole again, and mark out the detail with a harder touch, giving somewhat of the characteristics of the foliage, putting in at the same time the smaller groups of leaves and the details of the branches. The kind of shading to be used will depend a good deal upon the kind of sketch intended. If it is to be rough, then broad open lines will give the general tone and indicate the transparency of the foliage , if, however, the work is to be more finished, the lines should be thinner and closer together, at the same time representing more accurately the character of foliage to be represented. The transparency will be kept up by the space left between the strokes. The examination of the studies of foliage given in our illustrations, or in good lithographs or drawings, will soon show what a great diversity of touch, of breadth, and of depth of line, is requisite for the satis¬ factory representation of trees. What has been said about the blacklead-pencil is true of all points, chalk, charcoal (a most delightful implement, though unfortunately so difficult to pre¬ serve), the pen, the etching-needle, and the hard pencil which has to be used for wood-engraving. Every one of these requires considerable practice, until one feels the work not only at the tips of one’s fingers, but at the point of the tool. For, as a famous philosopher has said, man is the only animal that can extend himself by adding to the length of his limbs. The hardest of these tools cannot be used like the pencil to make strokes of very varying thick¬ ness, but still even this difficulty can be got over in practice. A water-colour brush introduces a new element 26 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. into the work, a power of spreading over a con¬ siderable width of work with a single stroke, and, what is very important in the representation of the lightness of foliage, the power of passing so lightly over the surface as to leave a certain amount of space untouched with the colour. In putting on washes in most kinds of drawings, it is desirable that the whole should be flat and even ; not so, however, in trees. Not only is it desirable to change the tone and depth of various parts of the same wash, but what some might look upon as the imperfections of a rough kind of paper are most advantageous in repre¬ senting the light breaking through delicate foliage. Largish washes of the kind here described, varied by the introduction of different colours or different mix¬ tures of the same colours, will form the groundwork of our representation of foliage. Sometimes even a little of a stronger tint or fresh colour may be intro¬ duced before the first is quite dry, but this requires some considerable experience, and a good knowledge of the weight of combinations of the various pigments used. A second series of washes of smaller extent will indicate the main outlines of light and shade, the shapes of the masses of foliage and their relation to one another. These, of course, need not be put in all at once, for some may overlap others, and then it is necessary to wait until the first is dry. When this is completed, then comes the final work, which more nearly, though not very closely, approaches the pencil work mentioned above ; this will indicate the kind of foliage, and will differ according to the species of tree to be represented. Such is the main outline of the process by which trees may be delineated in water- WATER-COLOUR MANIPULATION. 2 7 colour ; but though easily and shortly described, it will take a considerable time to put into practice. The mechanical part is entirely different from that required for the pencil, although it probably does not require so much time to acquire j there is, however, something which is not so mechanical, and which will require a great deal of pains, and that is the tiaining of the eye to see the various component parts of the process above described. For, supposing the tree be represented in monochrome (a single colour, such as sepia or lamp-black), it is first necessary to mark well the gradations that the earliest washes must take, where and how much depth must be added. In the second stage, the exact forms of the shadows have to be given, and the comparative depth of shadow in the different parts of the tree. The last part is more laborious, but scarcely requires so much thought, except where it has to make up for the deficiencies of the former work. This is all necessary in mono¬ chrome j but when colour has to be added, how much more complicated does it become ! The suitable tone in contrast and combination with the colours around has to be considered ; then the relation of colour between the light and shade in the whole work, the amount of transparency to be indicated by a deep¬ ening of the local tint as contrasted with the shadow, which will partake of the complementary colour, all these have to be thought of. In this connection we may say something about the colour of trees. They are never of a crude green. Not every combination of blue and yellow will make the colour required. Nature never makes a mistake about her greens, never obtrudes painful contrasts, 28 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. never brings colours together that do not harmonize. The pea-green formed by the combination of Prussian blue and gamboge finds no place in her colour-box. Indigo, with Indian yellow and burnt sienna, or some madder, such as brown madder, forms a much more delightful series of tones. It is astonishing, in fact, how little green there is in foliage. The general tendency is green, but there are very few patches of pure green to be found in any tree. Then, as green is a cool colour, the shadows of it must be more or less warm, and to these, warm browns will contribute very considerably. Each tree, moreover, has its own tone, and the colour that suits an oak will not represent a willow, nor will either of them suit a fir-tree. Each class of tree has to be studied, and then allowance must be made for the tone of sunlight which is intended, and which will greatly modify the local colouring. Every leaf has, besides its local colour, which varies greatly in different portions, parts which are transparent, and therefore have the thicker parts more strongly co¬ loured than others ; parts which reflect the light, and therefore are greatly modified by the colour of the sky; and parts which are in shadow, and which show more or less the colours complementary to both sky and local tones. As each leaf has this variety, the whole tree will partake too of the same, and it requires careful study to perceive how far each shall prevail. A great deal of this study of trees may be done when there is no colour or pencil at hand, and the eye may store up in the memory what will serve as con¬ siderable help when the sketch-book is in full use. It is exceedingly useful to exercise the memory in OIL-COLOUR MANIPULATION. 29 arranging facts observed, so that they can be pro¬ duced when they are wanted. The touch and handling of oil-colours is totally different from that of water-colours. There is this, however, in common, that in both the main masses must be got in first, and the more minute touches be left till afterwards. The modes of working in oil are so various, every painter almost having peculiarities of his own, and being quite certain, moreover, that his own process is the only available one, that it is im¬ possible to describe satisfactorily the way of setting to work. One thing is quite certain, that whatever process produces the desired effect is the right one. To whatever degree of finish foliage is brought in the end, never let it be forgotten to keep to the main breadth of light and shade. No amount of niggling will ever compensate for the loss of breadth, yet breadth is quite compatible with the very highest amount of finish. The great transparency of trees, both in their individual leaves and in consequence of the way in which we see between the leaves, allows of depth within depth of shade, and great richness of tone may be produced by remembering this. Then again most pleasing effects of contrast can be brought about by allowing rays of light to pass through or beneath broad masses of trees. The entrance to a pathway in a wood, or the gleam of evening light seen beneath the branches of old fir-trees, deepens the gloom and solitude of woodland scenery, and suggests the most weird and fantastic thoughts. It will be well at the same time to avoid all extraordinary or unnatural forms of trees, whether they are the eccentric shapes of individual trees that one occasionally meets with in 30 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. Nature, or those unfortunate plants which men have tortured into grotesque forms ; or, on the other hand, those strange arrangements of growths and plantation which have been made to represent something which they cannot be. All forms which are unnatural are displeasing. ( 3i ) PART II. INDIVIDUAL TREES. “The green trees whispered low and mild.”— Longfellow. We will now go through some of the principal of the trees which we are likely to meet with in picturesque scenery, and note their peculiarities, indicating, where possible, how the characteristics can be delineated. THE OAK. “ The monarch oak, the patriarch of trees, Shoots rising up and spreads by slow degrees ; Three centuries he grows, and three he stays, Supreme in state; and in three more, decays.”— Dryden. The oak is one of the most striking, if not the most common, of our English forest-trees. The great age to which it lives and the size at which it frequently arrives attract considerable attention to it, and then the fact that it is more frequently perhaps than any other tree allowed to stand alone, and so to attain its full dignity unchecked by unworthy compeers, lends a grandeur to it which is seldom rivalled by any other monarch of the forest. Aged trees are apt to get their roots exposed, the earth being washed away from them when they stand 32 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. on a knoll, and frequently the exigencies of cultiva tion, the cutting of a road, or the removal of a bank in which the tree once stood, leaves it exposed to the ravages of the weather. Thus we have more oppor¬ tunity, perhaps, of studying the roots of oaks than of any forest-tree. How strange and quaint they are ! Like every portion of the tree, they seem to delight in the unexpected. Violent angles, not restrained to any one plane, knobs and excrescences in every direc¬ tion, give plenty of employment to the draughtsman who would portray their characteristics. Every twist seems to tell of a struggle with some difficulty of soil or climate, and the English character finds a fitting representative in the tree which is so abundant on its soil. These roots spread as wide, probably, as the branches above, and retain a firm hold on the ground when the storms with all their violence are using the enormous leverage of its spreading limbs to tear the sturdy stem from the soil that has nourished it. The trunk, studded with boles and knobs, carries upward, but not too far, the strong resistance of its massive tap roof, and we can almost imagine that if the whole could be excavated we should find almost as much of the tree below the soil as above it, and that an oak reflected in still water is but little more than a true representative of the entire growth. The bark is as characteristic of the tree as any other portion of it. Here is an excellent description of it, worthy of the attention of an artist. “ The genuine bark of an oak is of an ash colour, though it is difficult to distinguish any part of it from the mosses that overspread it; for no oak, I suppose, was ever without a greater or a less proportion of these OAK BARK, 33 picturesque appendages. The lower parts about the roots are often possessed by that green velvet moss which in a still greater degree commonly occupies the bole of the beech, though the beauty and brilliancy of it lose much when in decay. As the trunk rises, you see the brimstone colour taking possession in patches. Of this there are two principal kinds : a smooth sort, which spreads like a scurf over the bark, and a rougher sort, which hangs in little rich knots and fringes, call it a brimstone hue by way of general distinction, but it sometimes inclines to an olive, and sometimes to a light green. Intermixed with these mosses you often find a species perfectly white. Before I was acquainted with it, I have sometimes thought the tree white-washed. Here and there a touch of it gives a lustre to the trunk, and has its effect; yet, on the whole, it is a nuisance, for as it generally begins to thrive when the other mosses begin to wither (as if the decaying bark were its proper nutriment), it is rarely accompanied with any of the more beautiful species of its kind, and where thus unsupported it always disgusts. This white moss, by the way, is esteemed a certain mark of age, and when it prevails in any degree is a clear indication that the vigour of the tree is declining. We find also another species of moss of a dark brown colour inclining nearly to black ; another of an ashy colour ; and another of a dingy yellow. We may observe also touches of red, and sometimes, but rarely, a bright yellow, which is like a gleam of sun¬ shine ; and in many trees you will see one species growing upon another — the knotted brimstone- coloured fringe clinging to a lighter species, or the black softening into red. Strictly speaking, many of 34 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. these excrescences, which I have mentioned under the general name of mosses, should have been distin¬ guished by other names. All those, particularly, which cling close to the bark of trees, and have a leprous, scabby appearance, are classed, I believe, by botanists under the name of lichens ; others are called liver-worts. But all these excrescences, under whatever name distinguished, add a great richness to trees; and when they are blended harmoniously, as is generally the case, the rough and furrowed trunk of an old oak, adorned with these pleasing appen¬ dages, is an object which will long detain the pic¬ turesque eye.”— Gilpin's Forest Scenery. The above pretends to no scientific accuracy, but it just takes notice of those facts which are most impor¬ tant to those who would portray trees—for trees deserve to have their portraits taken just as much as men. We may add to the above that other growths are to be found on old oaks. Ferns, especially the common polypodium, and some of the common weeds, not unfrequently find a resting-place in the deep cracks of its solid bark, and this is notably the case at the joints where large limbs meet the main stem. The effect of weather on the differently-exposed sides of all trees is a matter to be noted. The prevailing winds, as well as the sunshine, have considerable influence in these matters. The foliage of an oak is as characteristic as any point about it. This, like the bark, is made the home of a variety of growths. Scarcely a leaf in an aged tree but what is marked by what the vulgar call blight, but which is generally a fungus more or less minute. But whatever it is, it adds a distinct character Plate III MACLURE & C° WP- r. H C-ELAMOTTE. OAK Branches. \ OAK FOLIAGE. 35 to the leaves already different enough from most trees. These spots of a brown or dull red deaden the not too bright green of the oak foliage, so that burnt sienna will have to form a very important ingredient in most washes. The mode of representing oak foliage in pencil is shown in Plate III., and consists principally in making a series of small concave curves of different sizes, thus representing the pointed ap¬ pearance produced, not by actual points in the leaf, for it is all rounded, but by continual twists of surface of the leaf, which thus presents sharp angles to the eye, though the edges are curved. A similar effect must be produced by the brush in either water-colours or in oils, and this may often be done by driving the point of the brush forwards, and so splitting it up into a number of points. The colouring of an oak being heavy originally, will take very deep shading in its deepest recesses. THE ELM. “ Under the shady roof Of branching elm, star proof.”—M ilton. The next most important tree in the English land¬ scape is the elm, and in not a few respects this re¬ sembles the oak. Its roots are apt to emerge from the ground, and at their juncture with the stem to rise high enough, and to project far enough, to form a seat, especially for children, and thus to give the artist an opportunity of enlivening his sketch by the introduction of a little human interest. This is the D 2 36 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. more necessary, for however much he may himself enjoy the pure delight of woodland scenery, still the majority of people who admire and (shall we add?) buy pictures, are more likely to be interested in the life introduced than in the absolute picturesqueness of the scene. Besides, the introduction of living ob¬ jects by its very contrast throws out the stillness and repose of the landscape in itself. The quiet of a summer’s evening in the country is never so per¬ ceptible as when it is emphasized by the sounds of children playing in the distance; and so the solitude of woodland scenes is greatly enhanced by the intro¬ duction of animals unconscious of the presence of man, or of children unharassed by any thought of work or serious life. The elm is like the oak also in the ruggedness of its bark, though even here it “ wears its rue with a difference.” The marking of the elm is more commonplace and regular than the wayward cracks in the oak’s skin. Gray’s expression of “ those rugged elms” is true enough, but the ruggedness is after a systematic fashion, and may be easily mastered. The foliage of the elm may be studied in a small spray, which will suggest the way in which their attachment to the stem may be represented. The leaves of the elm are short and round, and therefore require a number of attached loops of small size. (See Plate IV.) This will represent fairly the leaves ; but the general shape that the masses of elm foliage take will have to be studied separately. The outline will be found to consist of lines of large curvature, with only slight indentations and projections, with none Plate IV P H DELAMOTTE ELM_ Foliage \ ELM FOLIAGE. 37 of the irregularity of the outline of the oak ; though, in fact, a finely-grown elm may be mistaken in the distance for an oak. Ruggedness is not the charac¬ teristic of the foliage, if it is of the bark, of the elm. Probably no tree will occur more frequently than the elm in landscapes which represent rich and cultivated land. It is the tree of home beauty, suggestive of agricultural prosperity and civilized dwellings, and its grand and bold curves intersect and contrast finely with the details of architecture. The wych elm very closely resembles the ordinary elm, except that the branches bend downwards (as its name indicates), and the general outline is not so graceful as that of its namesake. The colouring of elms is somewhat lighter and brighter than that of oaks, but one must beware of getting too crude in the greens. Yellow ochre with some burnt sienna, tinged with a little indigo, will form the foundation tones, whilst burnt sienna, or sepia with indigo modified with more or less of brown madder, will make the shadows. The masses of light and shade in an elm are generally grand, and should not be broken up too much with detail. It grows to a greater height than most timber trees, and is a picturesque object at every distance. THE ASH. “The ash for nothing ill.”—S tenser. The ash usually differs greatly from both the trees we have discussed before, and yet we have seen ashes which might be mistaken for oaks. Every distinctive TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. poition is unlike ; the roots are seldom seen, and where they can be traced are either straight or slightly cuived; the stem is smooth, the branches curve gently outwards, the foliage is very light and transparent. It is one of the trees that seems to be indigenous to this country, for it is mentioned by the earliest writers ; it enters into the mythology of the early Teutonic race, and has been used for every kind of implement of warfare and of civil life. The baik of the ash presents a strong contrast to that of the oak and elm. It is smooth, and in itself of a most delicate grey ; but in trees of any age is constantly covered with patches of very dark lichen. The strong contrast between these two is not always pleasing, and often requires some management of light and shade to give breadth and prevent a patchy appeal ance. The stem is rounded, but it represents fiequently rather clusters of columns than one sturdy pillar such as the elm suggests. Between these columns will often be found a deep indenture, or even hole, blackening like the lichen. The method in which the branches break off from the patent trunk is quite different from that of either of the former trees. (See Plate I., fig. i.) The branch at fiist is only a swelling in the side of the stem, and when it separates, each part turns away from the other, the stem at first curving slightly outward, though it may afterwards return to an upright direction, whilst the branch bends away from the stem a little only at first, but as it grows longer it curves more and more, so that frequently the lower branches of an ash become almost semi-circular. As the branch bifur¬ cates gradually from the stem, so do the smaller P H. DELAMOTTE FOLIAGE OF THE ASH. 39 branches and twigs separate from the larger branches ; there are none of the right-angles that one meets with in the oak, nor the violent curves of the elm, which rather turn back to the parent stem than proceed further from it. The foliage of the ash is very light and airy. (Plate V.) It is not formed of single leaves like the trees mentioned before, but consists of clusters branching out in pairs on each side of a spray which ends with a single leaflet. The whole of this, spray and leaflets, fall together in the autumn, so that the spray is not the origin of a young branch, and is not attached to the branch in the same fashion as the branch is to the stem. This suggests the mode in which this kind of foliage may be represented—viz., by a series of small strokes all curved the same way on one side of the spray, and a similar series curved in the corresponding direction on the other side. These small leaflets naturally form a very trans¬ parent foliage, and as the branches curve gently downwards, they give a soft and airy outline to the mass; so that though it requires many strokes to represent a spray, yet these must be given with a very light touch, so that they do not represent too great a solidity. The colour of the foliage of the ash is light and delicate. Cobalt and yellow ochre will be found useful in forming these greens in water-colours, burnt sienna coming in in the darker shades. At all times light, the foliage of the ash is particularly light in spring, coming into leaf as it does much later than most trees. In autumn it loses its covering with the first frost, and does not as a rule take the finer colouring which at that season adorns its neighbours. 40 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. THE BEECH. “ Where the rude and moss-grown beech O’er canopies the glade.”— Gray. The beech is similar to the ash in the conformation of its trunk inasmuch as it frequently resembles a bundle of shafts, in fact it even exhibits this peculiarity to a greater extent. It is frequently studded with knobs, which break the otherwise smooth surface of its outline. There is a great deal of very delicate tinting about the bark of the beech, and, like the trees mentioned before, it is usually coated luxuriantly with mosses and lichens. The ramification is peculiar, unlike any that we have described, forming larger angles with the stem than the ash, not such wide ones as the oak and elm. The branches are apt to interlace and become veiy complicated, so that it is somewhat difficult to trace the lines in all cases, when the leaves cover a portion of the wood. (Plate VI.) The foliage of the “warlike” beech is somewhat heavy. The leaves are not very unlike in shape to those of the elm, and in pencil-drawing a nearly similar touch will fairly represent them, but the shining glistening appearance and variety of colours make the management of them in colours decidedly different. In the early spring the colour is a very light delicate yellowy-green, very transparent and beautiful. As the summer advances, the colour be¬ comes deeper and the reflexions from the smooth part are more observable, because they form a greater con- Plate VI. PHDELAMOTTE MACLURE & C° BEECH BEECH FOLIAGE. 41 trast with the deep green than they did with the light tone. These reflexions, when the tree is near at hand, give it a rather spotty appearance which is not alto¬ gether pleasing. If it is deemed advisable to repre¬ sent this, it must be done in water-colours by leaving the spots that occur when a hasty and somewhat dry wash is passed over roughish paper, but the effect is not generally agreeable or to be sought for. When the tree is seen from a greater distance, these light points, simply serve to modify the depth of the dark and sombre green, which without them would appear heavy and depressing. The young trees are lighter than old ones, and are consequently more picturesque, which is not usually the case with most natural pro¬ ductions. But if spring and summer present a consider¬ able variety of tint, it is the autumn which brings out the full power of colour in beech trees. The glorious colours, from the brightest reds and orange to yellow and some tones of green, are perhaps more beautiful in Nature than a representation of them in a picture can ever be expected to be ; but still, though they may be difficult to represent harmoniously and pleasantly, they serve as studies in colour from which the painter may learn some of the great secrets of Nature’s wonderful colouring. Fortunately, too, the leaves remain on the beech longer than on almost any tree, and so its changes may be studied leisurely. A fine autumn day, at the end of October or the beginning of November, may seem all ablaze with the brilliant foliage of a grove of beeches. The tree which gives its name to such a spot as Burnham Beeches cannot be considered anything but grand and pic¬ turesque. 42 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. The purple beech gives a variety of colour which, under some circumstances, can be made use of to break monotony. THE CHESTNUT. The horse-chestnut is a tree constantly to be met with in ornamental grounds and in the neighbourhood of houses, probably because it is a quick grower, and with its massive foliage and rather striking flower adds beauty to a bare space in the course of a very few years. The stem is inclined to be smooth and not very distinctive, of a dark colour, and unrelieved by much in the way of marking. It stands firmly and straight in the midst of a rather formal outline, so that a horse-chestnut does not look a very picturesque object when standing alone. It is much more adapted for pictorial purposes when arranged in an avenue which compels the tree to take a less formal shape, or when mixed with other foliage. Its boughs, too, are rather straight and stiff; and so, if it were not for its foliage, it would not find a place, at all events so early, in our catalogue. The leaves of the horse-chestnut, however, are very beautiful, and are large enough to become striking objects. They consist of five lobes, the largest in the centre (answering to the middle finger in the hand); the ones on each side of this are a little smaller, whilst those furthest off are smallest of all. These pairs are not, however, exactly similar. These five lobes are easily represented by one movement of the pencil, and so this kind of foliage may be acquired more easily than almost any that we Plate VII P H DELAMOT ( E. MACLURE & CV CHESTNUT. THE SWEET CHESTNUT. 43 may mention. It must be remembered, however, in drawing these trees that it is very few of the leaves that we see distinctly: the majority are partially hidden and many are quite indistinct. Keeping this fact in view will prevent a representation from appearing too monotonous and laboured. The lobes are not oval: they are narrow and elongated towards the central spray, but widen and become blob towards the tip. The sweet or Spanish chestnut has a perfectly dis¬ tinct leaf, though the general appearance of the tree and of its foliage is enough alike to account for the similarity of name. The leaves in this case are large, but they are distinct. They do not form a blob to¬ wards the end, but increase with a fine curve towards the centre, and decrease with a continuation of the same curve to the point. Necessarily, these will be represented in a different manner, and a series : of tolerably similar curves, met afterwards by curves like them turned in the opposite direction, will best give the idea desired. (Plate VII.) The stem of the sweet chestnut is deeply marked with indentations that run round it in a spiral direc¬ tion ; this gives it a rather formal and stiff appearance, otherwise it is a very sturdy and solid-looking tree, in outline something like the oak. Its branches spread widely and loosely, but not with the gnarled and crabbed manner of the stronger tree. One great beauty of the horse-chestnut is its flower, with which it is sometimes covered in the spring. This flower is mostly white, but sometimes is red, and there is a little red marking about the white one. Very few trees are remarkable for the appearance of their flowers, and in general they are so small com- 44 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. pared to the plant that they pass unobserved ; but this is not the case with the horse-chestnut, whose flowers may even form pleasing objects in a picture when judiciously managed. THE WALNUT. The walnut grows more luxuriantly in Italy and the South of Europe than it does in England, and yet with us it is not uncommon, partly, no doubt, owing to the value of its fruit, and partly in consequence of the demand for its -wood ; and sometimes we come across very fine specimens of old trees, especially in the neighbourhood of old farmhouses. The stem of the walnut is tolerably smooth and of a lightish colour, sometimes marked with dark stains where the water is able to settle : for the walnut affords a colouring matter, whether from leaves or fruit or the decayed wood, which is the principal ingredient in most of the wood-stains. The branches spread out very widely, starting at a large angle from the trunk, and often bending, where nothing interferes with them, almost to the ground. No doubt many more trees would thus turn downwards and cover their trunks almost from sight, if it were not for the passage of animals, including human beings, beneath them. Men and boys pluck off or strike down the young shoots within their reach, and horses, oxen, stags and sheep alike nibble at what they can get at ; so that if we look at a number of trees in a park or meadow, we shall notice that they are cut off in a perfectly straight line below just at the height to escape the ravages of the THE LOWER OUTLINE OF TREES. 45 creatures that pass beneath them. In a wood or plantation enclosed from traffic, the lower limbs of all kinds of trees intermingle with the undergrowth of shrubs and weeds, and some trees such as the yew, which cattle refuse to touch, frequently are clothed with foliage to the ground. On lawns, again, where the trees are protected, the branches will bend to the earth and then take an upward turn again; but this is never the case where cattle and horses are free to wander. The foliage of the walnut is similar in shape to that of the sweet chestnut, except that the latter has a little roughness of edge, which is not perceptible at the distance, and so the same kind of touch will produce the effect in pencil. The colour of the leaves, however, is different. In early spring, the walnut, which is a late tree, looks of a light yellowish-brown, but as the leaves develop to their full size this becomes a yellow-green, whereas the chestnut is much darker and heavier in tone. In Italy the walnut grows very luxuriantly and to a considerable height, and takes the form of some of our finest elms. THE POPLAR. There are several kinds of poplar, but the one which is best known and which almost monopolizes the name is the Lombardy poplar : a tree which in general conformation is utterly unlike any other that grows commonly in this country. The stem in early days partakes of the nature of a telegraph pole, and presents no elements of beauty whatever. As it grows older it divides off, so as to appear more like a bundle of shafts, and it throws out buttress-like 4 6 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. projections, which, no doubt, give it some support against the attacks of the wind, assisted by the enormous leverage of its own height. This is all the more necessary, for though exposed to great pressure from such attacks as these, it has but little hold upon the ground from its roots, which, never long, spread themselves at only a slight depth beneath the sur¬ face. The result is that these tall monsters are fre¬ quently overturned, and then the observer may notice how small an amount of earth is disturbed by their uprootal. The colour of the stem merges into that of the foliage, so that sometimes it is difficult to tell where the one begins and the other ends. The ramification of the poplar, too, is peculiar. The branches curve out from the stem, but almost im¬ mediately they turn again, and follow almost the line of that from which they sprung; so that as the stem appears a bundle of shafts, the upper part of the tree really becomes one, stem and branches combining in one mass. The foliage grows in small roundish leaves along the lines of these rods, and this gives the clue to the delineation of them. Lines of nearly semi¬ circular curves descend nearly straight down beside the main trunk of the tree, showing a darker line on the lower side of the curve, and ending with a slight curve inward to the stem where it is intended to end. In oil-colours the effect of the poplar foliage may be produced by running lines of the lightest colour in a series of little dots more or less connected down where the outer edge of the branches is intended to be. This, of course, will be over the more shadowed portions painted beneath. If this is done while the colour below is still moist, different degrees of mixture POPLAR FOLIAGE. 47 of light and shade may be produced, so that where the brightest and purest colour first touches the canvas will be the tip of a branch, and it will gradually lose itself in the shade beneath as the branch nears the stem. Of course, this process is not possible in water¬ colours, but after the first washes of the lightest tone are laid on, the paper sloping so that the deepest colour sinks towards the bottom of the tree, the foliage may be indicated by a series of strokes some¬ what like those employed with the pencil in repre¬ senting the same effect, which will leave light lines of semi-connected dots between them. When the power of representing its foliage has once been acquired, the Lombardy poplar is one of the trees which are most easily made satisfactory to the eye. It is well that it should be so, for the introduction of a poplar in the midst of other foliage is very effective in breaking the monotony of continuous curvature. At the same time, the repetition of poplars is anything but pleasing, and many people have a vivid remembrance of the weariness of a straight French road, where mile upon mile of poplars has tired out the eye with its reiterated sameness. But that something can be done with even such a subject as this may be seen in Turner’s drawing of Florence, for Rogers’s “ Italy,” where the painter has not shrunk from reproducing such a road, and even bringing some of the trees right into the foreground. But every one is not a Turner, and what he succeeded in doing once, others may fail in many times over. The Abele, or great white poplar, is another kind 48 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. frequently to be found in water-meadows. It is a fine, fast-growing tree, but is not very suitable for representation, owing to the constant motion of its leaves, a peculiarity which it shares with the proverb¬ ially “ quivering aspen.” Both these trees have leaves of a dark dull green on the upper side, whilst the lower is of a silvery white ; and as its broad leaf is hung on a stalk of some length, it catches every breath of wind that stirs, and flutters so as to produce a quivering effect that cannot anyhow be represented on paper or canvas. We may leave these, therefore, to those who are fond of attempting the impossible. THE CYPRESS. “ Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress trees.”—S hakespeare. The only other tree that resembles the poplar at all in its general structure is the cypress, and that is not common in our country. “ The land of the cypress and myrtle ” lies far away to the south and east. The mournful associations connected with this tree make it appropriate that it should be an evergreen. In that respect it differs from all we have spoken about before. Like the poplar, it is not suited for too- frequent introduction into any landscape. Its deep sombre colour, as well as its conical shape, make it an effective contrast to architectural details, but its marked and unvaried shape prevent its frequent use. The stem is a mere stick, and the branches are not ordinarily visible, so that the foliage is all that is left for description. This is very minute, dark and heavy, so that little more can be done with it than put it in CYPRESS AND WILLOW. 49 with a single wash in water-colours with just sufficient shading to give it roundness, and to show occasional indentations into the mass; but a good deal of expenditure of black-lead is required to express it with the pencil. Lines somewhat similar to those in use for the poplar, but without such definite curves will give its character best. WILLOW. “ There is a willow grows aslant a brook That shows its hoar leaves in the glassy stream.”— Shakespeare. Under the head of the willow we may include two or three plants differing considerably in their mode of representation. The weeping willow stands in rather strong contrast to the two that we have just been discussing, for instead of running upwards in nearly direct lines, it falls in almost the opposite direc¬ tion ; beginning at the top with a curve such as the poplar ends with below, and ending with nearly a straight line which represents the cord-like termina¬ tion of the branch almost deprived of leaves. Of course a pencil touch similar to that of the poplar, only reversed, will fairly represent this, and in colours a somewhat similar method must be employed. The stem will almost always be leaning over the stream or pond into which the tree “ dips Its pendant boughs, stooping as if to drink.” The colour of the weeping willow is very light, and somewhat of a yellowish-green, in which respect it is a considerable contrast to other kinds of willow whose E So TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. foliage is of a bluish tinge, in which cobalt forms a principal ingredient in water-colours, mixed with a little gamboge. This other willow of which we speak is almost always pollarded, that is, its branches are from time to time cut off from the bulging head in which its sloping stems generally end. For these willows planted by the water side, often in long rows by the side of a dike (they are sometimes called Lincoln¬ shire oaks), lean over at various angles towards the element to which they are so closely attached. Un¬ like the rows of poplars mentioned above, no two are alike or slant at the same angles ; sometimes one will remain nearly upright, while another will form a living bridge by which the stream or ditch may be crossed. The stems, too, present a great variety of appearance ; they are apt to split open and show a rotten interior of a great variety and richness of tone and colour. Unlike most trees, they are commonly wider at the top than below, and from their boled head they slope inwards gradually to within a foot or two of the ground, when they again tend outwards to the root. Their leaves are long and narrow, and so with a brush require a number of thin strokes pointed at each end, some of which will be dark against the lighter sky, and some will be light against the body of shade in the tree itself. These will be somewhat difficult to represent in water-colours, but may be taken out with water and blotting-paper. The repre¬ sentation in pencil must consist of a series of strokes thicker in the middle than the ends. It is especially necessary in representing willows not to overdo the work with detail. The eye does not perceive or notice the innumerable leaves of which the mass of WILLOW FOLIAGE. 51 foliage is made up, but it easily imagines this if a few of the prominent branches and sprays give the forms accurately, and the breadth of light and shade in the rest of the tree is carefully delineated. Of course the outline must be marked with some fidelity, but too much detail in the masses of light and shade confuse the eye rather than present any clear indication of its character. With these willows may be coupled the very similar foliage of the osier, which really looks like a series of willow branches growing side by side, instead of tend¬ ing to a common centre in the head of the willow stem. Osier beds are not usually very picturesque objects, but it may be sometimes necessary to intro¬ duce them, and they should generally be treated broadly, and, as we have said above, certainly not over¬ done with detail. Care as to the right colour of the main forms of light and shade, with a little suggestion of the form of the foliage in the foremost plant, will be quite sufficient to satisfy the most critical eye. THE LIME OR LINDEN TREE. The lime is a very different tree from those that we have been dilating upon above. It is one of the very few trees whose blossom attracts attention, and that not so much that of the eye as of the nostrils and of the ear. A linden tree in full bloom spreads its delightful odour round, and attracts to its leaves and bark, sticky with a kind of honey, enormous numbers of bees and other insects, so that a perpetual buzzing seems to come from the tree itself. This, however, has E 2 52 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. little to do with our immediate purpose except so far as this, that the flowers and also the seed pods are of a lighter and a yellower tone than the leaves, and in consequence they affect the general tone of the foliage, of which they form a very large proportion. The stem of the lime is dark, rounded and firm. The tree is not ordinarily met with of veiy great age, though the avenues at Hatfield must go back far into past ages. Their stems in these avenues are grey and green with age, and are in many cases divided off into numerous shafts. The branches shoot out at mode¬ rate angles, but the lime is pliant, and frequently the shoots are made to take some form that is thought convenient, and few trees suffer more from man’s improvements upon Nature than the docile linden. The foliage is of a beautiful and brilliant green, which becomes darker as the year advances. When the flowers open, the leaves gets coated with a sticky substance that reflects the light and makes them slimy, and this of course modifies the general tone of the tree. The leaves are rounded, with a small point at the tip. They will be represented in pencil much as are the elm and so many other trees. In oil- colours the rounded leaf may be put on with a single touch of the brush, emphasizing the point and soften¬ ing off the end towards the stalk into the shade behind. In water-colours the form of the leaf must be indicated by the shadow round it, which must not have too defined an outline on the side away from the leaves marked out. The general shape of the tree is rather apt to be deficient in divisions. ( 53 ) THE PLANE AND THE SYCAMORE. The plane and the sycamore are so much alike that it will be well to take them together. The forms of their leaves are very similar, and it requires some little attention to distinguish the one from the other. The former is found more frequently near the sea-side, and is a more massive and spreading tree, and its general tone of colour is darker. The latter is apt to run up rather straggling, and to take awkward and angular outlines. The stems of these trees are smooth, and that of the sycamore is frequently straighter than is quite pictu¬ resque, and they both have the peculiarity of shedding their bark in large flakes. This is apt to destroy the breadth of light and shade, for where the bark has lately fallen it leaves the new skin of a very light colour, strongly contrasting with the older portions remaining in its neighbourhood. This peculiarity of shedding its bark is a great advantage to the tree when it grows in an atmosphere laden with impurities, for when the pores through which the tree is nourished by the air get clogged up, the bark drops off, and a fresh clean bark is able to carry on the alimentary process. In consequence of this these trees, and espe¬ cially the sycamore, are chosen for planting in large towns where the smoky atmosphere destroys very rapidly the rough-barked trees. Where elms rot and break off before they have attained anything like their natural age, sycamores will flourish and become fine trees. 54 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. The leaves in both cases are large, and have fine, sharply-marked points. They hang each from a distinct stem. They are rather difficult to represent with the pencil, but a somewhat modified touch, like that used to represent the horse-chestnut but sharper at the points, will probably have the effect. The handling in colour is easier, for the leaves being larger, a few may be carefully represented, and then those more in shade or further back may be gene¬ ralized, and the eye will supply without difficulty whatever may be deficient. THE ALDER. The alder should have been mentioned immediately after the willows, for it inhabits similar localities, and is frequently found with these. It is, however, more frequent in the form of a bush than as a full-grown tree, probably because the treacherous water, whose companionship it seeks, is likely to cause its destruc¬ tion as well as its prosperity. The treatment of the alder requires but little explanation. Its leaves are like the elm in shape, and may be delineated in the same way. The stems are mostly straight, and though the foliage adds a richness to water-courses, it is not in itself a very picturesque tree or shrub. THE MAPLE. The maple sometimes grows to a great size. Its foliage at the same time is very small and minute. The bark of the maple is curiously marked, and ALDER, MAPLE, AND MOUNTAIN ASH. 55 requires careful study to represent truly what appear like cuts or slashes roughly healed. The stem is apt to separate off into such large limbs that it is difficult to tell which should be looked upon as the main leader. The boughs are very numerous, and probably this has some connection with the beautiful marking of the wood. Maple is often found in the hedgerows, rather as a bush than as a tree. The foliage can be studied in this form, and it will be found the leaves present as many and as sharp angles as the oak itself. The colour is deep and rather inclined to blue, whilst the stalks show many indications of redness, thus making the general effect of the tree even darker than the indi¬ vidual leaves. In autumn these deep reds, inclining sometimes to purple, manifest themselves in the leaves ; but the changes are very rapid, and must be caught at once, or they will have disappeared and altered entirely. THE ROWAN OR MOUNTAIN ASH. “ How clung the rowan to the rock, And through the foliage showed his head With narrow leaves and berries red.”— Scott. The mountain ash, a tree beloved by Scotchmen, and often celebrated by their poets under the name of “ rowan ” (or roan), resembles the ash somewhat in the form of its leaves, and so the pencil-touch used for the one will stand good for the other. Otherwise, however, there seems to be no connection between them. The colour is quite distinct, and in the present 5 6 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. case is a light green, not at all partaking of the bluish tinge of the formerly mentioned tree. In the High¬ lands it is said to be an important tree, and to attain some size, but this probably in comparison with the stunted ones with which it is contrasted. It is an ele¬ gant and light tree, with a delicate stem, and branches spreading gracefully. The most striking points about it, however, are its tufts of white flowers, somewhat resembling the heads of the common hemlock, and in autumn the corresponding bunches of bright red berries. It is almost the only tree of which the fruit forms a marked feature. THE BIRCH. “ The birch trees wept in fragrant balm ; The aspens slept beneath the calm.”—S cott, The birch, like the former tree, the mountain ash, thrives on poor soils and in exposed situations, and consequently forms an important portion of the foliage in the wilder parts of Scotland, and of mountainous scenery. The Silver birch, Lady birch, or Queen of the Forest, is a most elegant and graceful tree, though somewhat difficult to represent. Its stem is slight and pliant, generally inclining away from other trees or according to some slope in the ground. The bark has a habit of peeling off in thin flakes, leaving circles of various colours round the tree, a deep dark brown, a silvery white, and various shades of yellow- brown between. It is the older deadened bark which is silvery, and this when peeled off leaves the dark beneath. In spite of this variety it has not the patchy Plate VIII P H OELAMOTTE MAC LURE & C ; BIRCH BIRCH AND HOLLY. 57 appearance of the plane or sycamore, but seems to be enriched with rings of various tones (Plate VIII.). The larger branches show a tendency in the same direction ; but the younger sprays are always of a deep brown, almost approaching to black. These branches are given forth by the stem at a slight angle, some¬ what larger than that of the ash, but, unlike that tree, the limbs are not straight, but take a variety of twists which seem unaccountable. As the stems get smaller they begin to turn downwards, and give that elegant weeping effect which is so characteristic (Plate I., Fig. 4). The leaves are very small, and are placed at some considerable distance from each other, so that the whole tree is transparent, and the foliage has to be represented by scarcely more than a series of dots. This is difficult to represent, and is not always pleasing when put upon paper. Except in the early spring, the leaves are very dark and scarcely give any indication of green in them. THE HOLLY. The holly appears more frequently as a bush or in a hedge than as a tree. However, in the New Forest and elsewhere it attains a considerable size. The general shape is not elegant, and its foliage is both heavy and confused, innumerable sparklings of reflected light joining with its frequent prickly points to make a mass on which the eye cannot rest with any degree of pleasure. It is only association which makes the holly a favourite. Its thick foliage at a time when every other tree has lost its summer clothing, and the 5 8 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. brilliancy of its numerous berries, make it an agreeable object in a winter landscape. As the foliage is rough, so the stem is smooth and rounded, and is of a light grey, sometimes verging on green. It branches out in moderate curves, but the branches are usually hidden under the mass of dark-coloured foliage. It is useless to describe this latter, for no words would make it better known than it is. The actual form is not beautiful, and in consequence it is very rarely indeed to be found in sculpture. It may be repre¬ sented by a series of lines curved inwardly, so that the points represent the prickles of the leaf. Holly may be made to look more pleasing by being partially hidden by the stems and branches of trees deprived of their foliage. THE ILEX. The ilex, or evergreen oak as it is sometimes called, (though why it is difficult to see, for it is very unlike the ordinary oak,) can scarcely be called an English tree. It certainly does grow in some places, but seldom arrives at any great perfection. The stem is smooth, especially in the younger trees, and in this respect it is a good deal like the holly. The upper side of the leaves too is something of the same colour, but underneath they are of a dull grey. The leaves are generally small, but they take many shapes, from a simple oval to a notched shape not unlike the tree from which it takes its name. Though not common in England, in the south of Europe it flourishes to a great extent, and not un- frequently becomes quite as impressive as some of the HOLME OAK AND ACACIA. 59 finest of our elms, which it much resembles in general outlines when it is well developed. There are two or three other trees which should be studied by those who paint or sketch in the South, amongst which are the cork and the olive; but we must confine our remarks to those productions which may be met with at home, though some of these are not very common. It is never amiss to make the best of any oppoitu- nities we may have to master the peculiarities of any kind of tree, for we may require a knowledge of it when the study of it no longer lies in our power. THE ACACIA. The acacia is a tree principally of foreign growth, but still to be met with in some luxuriance in England. Its wood is very brittle, and consequently it will not stand in any exposed spot, but in gardens and groves, protected by other trees, its light and brilliant foliage forms a very pleasing object. The stem of the acacia when it attains any age is scored with seams of considerable depth, running in lines greatly varied. Its colour is of a greenish-brown, not very dark except in these seams. The branches strike off at right angles, and give the notion of the brittle natme o( the wood. The roots penetrate far into the soil, and are said to hold the ground together. It is in conse¬ quence of this, We may suppose, that it is so fiequently to be seen along the embankments and cuttings of French railways, affording a pleasant colour to look out on, whilst its roots are doing yeoman’s service in the ground beneath. The leaves arc a number of very short ovals, 6 o TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. arranged in order on each side of a stalk. A touch something like that which represents the ash, but with rounder curves, will serve for this. The colour is a bright and light green, and, owing to the great transparency of the foliage, the shadows are delicate and gradually modified, giving a great idea of softness. THE LARCH. The larch seems to lie on the border-ground be¬ tween the firs and other trees. Its foliage and cones seem to point to the former, but its loss of its green covering in the winter, and its exquisitely beautiful renewal of the delicate tint of green in the spring, connect it with the deciduous trees of which we have been chiefly speaking before. The stem of the larch is like that of many firs, it slopes upward with gradually diminishing circumference. The bark in its youth is dark, but accumulates more or less of a greyish-green lichen which entirely covers it, and sometimes hangs down in pendulous masses like the beard of Father Christmas, giving an air of age and weirdness to a forest of firs or larches which removes it almost into the land of Faerie and of witchcraft. The dim twilight which penetrates into these recesses is very favourable to these sensations, and the idea of im¬ mensity favoured by the numerous stems gradually re¬ treating into the distance, all “ lend enchantment to the view.” These stems are often stained with the drop¬ pings of turpentine from wounds in the bark. The branches of the larch strike out, as do those of other members of the fir tribe, at right angles to the original LARCHES. 6l stem, but afterwards they take a picturesque curve which is their own. This curve gracefully sinks below the point from which it starts, but returns to it again, so that the point of the branch is nearly on a level with the spot whence it starts from the stem. From these hang the slighter sprays to which the hair-like foliage is attached. These minute leaves cannot be represented in ordinary drawing, and therefore it is quite sufficient to mark the sprays with broad and light strokes tolerably close together, so as not to leave too great an impression of lines. The tops of the trees and the ends of the branches are quite as sharp as pencil or brush will make them, and care must be taken to keep the general outline of the tree curved upwards, similarly to the horizontal curve of the branches. The larch grows upon very poor ground, and is said to thrive better there than when placed on richer soil. It has been stated that many of Raphael’s pictures are painted on panels of larch, and so in one way at all events it deserves well of art. THE CEDAR. “And over head up grew Insuperable height of loftiest shade, Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm, A sylvan scene, and as the ranks ascend Shade above shade, a woody theatre Of statelier view.”—M ilton. The cedar can hardly be called an English tree, but still some very fine specimens of it exist in this country ; and at present there is not a very extensive growth of it on Lebanon, the spot from which it takes 6 2 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. Its title. It is a tree valuable in itself, and ought to have some associations for an artist who uses its wood in his pencil. This is one of the trees in which the stem is an important item, for it is entirely exposed until we arrive at the bunching head of the tree, and therefore it will require careful study. It is not to be supposed that we can manufacture the stem of a tree out of our own innate consciousness. Painters have attempted to do so before now, and the contemplation of such works by those who have really worked on similar things is a warning not to give way to what people call their imagination, but what is really their ignorance. The stem of the cedar Is strong and powerful, and so arranged as to carry, without sug¬ gesting any difficulty to the eye, the weight of foliage imposed upon it. It is not simply a massive column like the oak, nor a more elegant shaft like the elm or ash; but it is neither too straight nor Is it crooked, it generally inclines and yet shows no tendency to fall over ; it is a masterpiece of pleasing arrangement, and, like all really beautiful things, it completely fulfils its work of supporting the head of foliage above it. Not many branches leave the main trunk until near the top, and then these spread out in a fan-shape, with the dense mass foliage upon them that forms such a complete shade. This foliage of minute leaves can only be represented by a kind of deep shading with a little roughening of the upper edge, whilst the lower is sometimes to be attached to the branches by twig-like strokes, or to be left like the upper, where the branch enters quite at the side. There are generally several layers of this dense and dark foliage, especially on the side of the tree most exposed to air and sun- CEDARS. 6 3 light, but the age of the tree, and in fact the kind of cedar too, cause a considerable variety in this respect. Cedars are trees of exceedingly slow growth ; they accordingly require a long time to arrive at perfec¬ tion ; in consequence they add an idea of age to any scene into which they are introduced. Among the rich reds of old brickwork that go back to the veri¬ table Queen Anne, or to the Stuarts before her, a cedar of some size is quite in its place, and helps towards great depth of colouring ; but in the midst of scenes and architecture of the nineteenth century its incongruity is immediately perceptible. The real lasting power of cedar was well tested by a circum¬ stance mentioned by Layard in his account of his explorations at Nimroud. One evening, as he passed a camp-fire of some of the Arabs he was employing in digging in the Mesopotamian mounds, he perceived the odour of burnt cedar-wood. On inquiry he found that the workmen were cooking their evening meal by the help of a log that they had extricated from the trenches. The cedar that they were burning must have lain in the earth for some two thousand five hundred years; but it had not lost its scent. A wood that can last in this way after having taken centuries to grow, is not to be introduced amid the frivolities of everyday life without emphasizing the contrast that must exist between the two. The colour of the stem varies from a pinkish red to great depth of brown and green ; in fact the colour of the wood seems almost to thrust itself through the duller bark. The foliage is a green that may be almost called invisible, so dark is it, except where the growth is quite fresh. 64 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. THE SCOTCH FIR. The tree which is nearest to the cedar in the general arrangement of its branches and foliage is the Scotch fir. The stem of this, like that of the former, is very graceful, whether it grows, as is often the case, straight and perpendicular, or whether it inclines more after the fashion which we have described in speaking of the cedar. This stem, too, is conspicuous for its colouring. In the younger trees, and in the upper and younger parts of the old trees, it is of a rich orange-red, which, seen in the brilliant glow of a sunset light, stands forth from the depths of the foliage with magnificent effect. As we descend the tree the colour gets nearer to a dull crimson, and in its lighter parts can best be represented by a wash of brown or purple madder. Then the markings on this bark are very fine, the deep cracks leaving elongated hexagonal scales of the brighter colour. These markings of course are darkest near the root, and gradually be¬ come less broad in tlie upper portions of the stem. As the bark is of a flaky nature, the cracks will often have the appearance of going down into the tree by steps, each step representing a layer of the bark. The study of fine old stems, of Scotch firs well repays the labour expended upon them. The foliage of this tree is even more confined to the summit than is that of the cedar. The branches have the tendency of the fir tribe to shoot out at right angles ; but they are very brittle and sensitive to any obstruction, and should a neighbouring tree touch SCOTCH FIR. 65 them, they die and break off; consequently we com¬ monly see none but the top ones flourish. These, however, have innumerable twigs which intertwine, and with their spines or leaflets form a dense head. Where open space allows the branches to develop, the fir puts forth large and broad layers of foliage like the corresponding portions of the cedar. A clump of Scotch firs is a very distinctive object, and often forms a landmark which cannot well be mistaken. It grows best upon poor and sandy soils, and is a characteristic of the Highlands, where its form often shows the way in which it has battled for existence with the opposing elements. As the cedar suggests antiquity, so the Scotch fir intimates desolation ; and though it may be found upon the trim lawn, or even in the hedgerow of a cultivated farm, its natural home seems to be the elevated heath or exposed moorland far from human habitation. “The blasted heath” on which Macbeth and Banquo met the Witches must have had some scattered trunks of Scotch firs. The foliage may be represented much as that of the cedar. In oil-colours an old rough hog’s-hair tool thrust upwards into the sky, leaving the marks of the individual hairs, will help to represent the spiny foliage ; but this will only form the foundation, on which there must be more painting afterwards. The same effect can only be reproduced in water-colours by a number of very fine strokes, some put in with dark shades, and in some cases similar lights taken out. F 66 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. THE STONE PINE, THE SPRUCE, AND OTHER FIRS. “ And higher yet the pine tree hung His shatter’d trunk, and frequent flung, Where seem’d the cliff to meet on high His boughs athwart the narrow’d sky.”—S cott. There are many other kinds of fir besides those we have mentioned before, and their numbers have increased enormously of late years. All quarters of the globe, Canada, California, and other parts of America, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, the Hima¬ layas and other parts of Asia have all contributed to the beautification of our gardens and shrubberies, and in a few years we may expect our woods and forests to receive considerable additions from the same source. It is impossible to describe all these beautiful growths, and it would make this work more like a gardener’s catalogue than an art manual if we did. We will therefore only just give some few general points which may be attended to in the study of these productions. The foliage of all the fir tribe consists of spines rather than leaves, and these must be represented by lines produced somehow, whatever the material we are using may be. Frequently these spines are collected in bunches, sometimes they are more or less erect, sometimes they hang down; but whatever the direction or relation to one another, they must be delineated by fine lines. The prevailing colour is dark, as fortunately all evergreens are. Nothing, perhaps, presents a more curious contrast FIRS AND YEW. 6/ than a plantation of larches and evergreen firs in the early spring, when the tender foliage of the larch is just beginning to clothe its branches with the most delicate green, and the firs are looking their very blackest after the frosts of winter. This, as we re¬ member to have seen it, again made more striking by the red sand in which they grew, made an impression more memorable than beautiful. The same character of stem and branch, too, belong to all this family. The stem tapers from where the branches begin to divide off, and these strike out nearly at right angles, so that a pine wood, when one tries to penetrate deep into its glades, looks almost like a ghostly representation of departed ladders with their rungs broken off at different lengths. THE YEW. “But here, ’twixt rock and river, grew A dismal grove of sable yew, With whose sad tints were mingled seen The blighted fir’s sepulchral green. Seem’d that the trees their shadows cast The earth that nourished them to blast.”— Scott. The yew is not now a very common tree, nor indeed a very picturesque one. Its foliage is very dark, and so small as to be almost similar to the spines of the firs. Formerly this tree was grown for the sake of its wood, when the best boughs were in great demand. After this, when a debased taste made eccentric rather than natural shapes an object of search, it was found that the yew could be clipped into more fantastic forms than any other tree or shrub, F 2 68 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. and garden walks were lined with hedges of it, cut into birds and animals as unlike its natural growth as could be. Now both these tastes have gone out of fashion, the yew is neglected, the more so as its leaves, when clipped from the tree and left for some time, are injurious, and even poisonous, to cattle that eat them. As a consequence, it is to be found'in church¬ yards more commonly than elsewhere, and its gloomy colour is in some people’s ideas connected naturally with such associations. Cheerless, unsocial plant! that loves to dwell ■ ’Midst skulls and coffins, epitaphs and worms.-— Blair. The stems of the yew grow fairly straight, and look like a bundle of rods fastened together. In colour they are often strongly inclined to red, a colour of which the wood sometimes partakes. The branches end in a point like those of larches and of some firs, except that they are apt to bend downwards at the tip. When left to grow naturally there are large masses of light and shade, or rather of moderate and intense shade, but the flat-clipped hedge of yew with its small leaf is a most unmanageable object to get into a picture. OTHER FOLIAGE. Wejhave now gone through the principal trees that are ordinarily to be seen in English landscape. There are, of course, others that are occasionally to be met with, which must be studied as they occur upon the same principles as we have indicated here. A careful HEDGEROWS. 69 drawing of a spray will generally suggest some con¬ ventional stroke which will recall more or less ac¬ curately the desired foliage. But, besides these, there are many minor growths so constantly met with as to require some special mention. Hedgerows and heaths furnish us with innumerable bits of picturesque subject which include a great variety of minor foliage. The Hawthorn is one main element of our hedges, though it is sometimes to be met with growing separately, and forming a bush of some size, we might almost say, a tree. It lives to a great age, and so survives the hedge in which it was originally planted ; and thus it is we sometimes meet with a row of thorns, the reason for which is not very apparent. Formerly, no doubt, a hedge stood upon the spot; the necessity for the hedge disappeared; it got broken through, the plants of less sturdy growth were trodden down and killed, and in time nothing was left but an occasional may-tree. This is undoubtedly the main beauty of the thorn when in May or June it is covered with a snow-like mass of most fragrant flower. It is even then a difficult object to deal with, on account of the strong contrast between the almost white flowers and the leaves and stems of a veiy dark tone. It requires management to give sufficient breadth, and not too violent contrast for picturesque representation, to what looks exceedingly beautiful in Nature when surrounded by all the charms and modifying circum¬ stances of a variety of scenery. The necessities of space, and of a view which can be taken in at a single glance, cause difficulties here which do not occur in Nature, and consequently care in composition is ne¬ cessary to make beautiful upon paper or canvas that yo TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. which never seems otherwise than charming in reality The general shape of the tree is seldom pleasing, for it is short and rounded without breaks. The stems, roots, and branches of the thorn are complicated and involved, being twisted in the most extraordinary fashion, and the wood is very apt to be visible, since the foliage gets worn away with the motion of the tree. The leaves are small and very irregular in shape. They require, therefore, a very minute and sharp touch to represent them and the prickles that are apt to protrude among them. In autumn the hawthorn often bears such a prolific crop of beautiful red berries as to produce the effect of large masses of red, a circumstance of some value amidst other foliage. Another plant, common enough in our hedges, and usually hateful from its prickles and rapid growth, is the bramble. This may sometimes be very picturesque. Its long sweeping lines often compose well with the different shapes of other growths, and the colour, both of its stems, and towards autumn of its leaves, gives great scope for its introduction into pictures. The leaves are formed five on a spray, the largest in the centre, the others graduating off. They are placed further apart, and hang looser than do those of the horse-chestnut, and their shape is much more elegant, having a longer point, and no tendency to the blob at the end. The original colour in summer is a dark green, but later they take all kinds of varieties of tone, from a deep purple through red to yellow. Moreover, they are spotted very frequently with some colour quite distinct from the main portion of the leaf. The tone varies, too, though gradually, through different portions of the same spray. GORSE, BROOM AND IVY. 71 The various briars, roses, and other flowering plants in the hedgerows require study, and it must always be remembered that hedges do not, if left to nature, grow straight and formal, but that the utmost variety is to be found in them, and is required in the representation of them. On heaths and commons the gorse, or furze as it is called in some places, is a conspicuous object, not always easy to deal with any more than the thorn, and very much from the same cause. The foliage, which is rather more of prickles than leaves, is of a dark, dull colour, and is massed in no picturesque forms, but simply in rounded patches. These are again either spotted with brilliant yellow flowers or covered with great masses of blossom, for it is pro¬ verbial that at no time are they without flowers to some extent. The more accurately, however, the foliage of the gorse can be represented, the more picturesque does it become ; and thus, like everything else, it repays the labour bestowed upon it. Another brilliant shrub is the broom. The flower in this case is quite as bright a yellow as is that of the gorse ; it does not however lie in such heavy masses, but is more distributed along the green rods which serve this plant for stems, and on which the leaves can be discovered, but only by the most minute observation. Ivy cannot even by a figure of speech be called a tree, and yet its foliage is such an important item in all representations of ruins, and even on many trees, too, that it cannot be omitted from our present collection. The leaf of the ivy—and the leaf is the plant—is generally five-pointed. Sometimes two of the points 72 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. are so indistinct that three alone are noticeable. Sometimes each point is so prominent that it almost becomes a separate leaf in itself; sometimes the leaf is little more than an irregular circle. Such leaves as these, when they come near into the foreground of a picture, require individual treatment: each leaf must be marked ; at a little distance they can be clustered, and the whole can be made more manageable by shading, which will divide it off into masses. We need not speak of fruit-trees , apples and pears , and others. These will not often be introduced, and whenever they are, it will be when they are in blossom and require special study of the individual tree. Very little can be done with them by any particular kind of touch. CONCLUDING REMARKS. ‘ ‘ There wons within the pleasant shady woods Where neither storm nor sun’s distemperature Have power to hurt by cruel heat or cold, Under the climate of the milder heaven ; Where seldom lights Jove’s angry thunderbolt For favour of that sovereign earthly peer ; Where whistling winds make music ’mongst the trees, Far from disturbance of our country gods; Amids the cypress-springs, a gracious nymph That honours Dian for her chastity. And likes the labours well of Phoebe’s groves; The place Elyzium hight, and of the place Her name that governs there Eliza is.”— Peele. We have now gone through the various kinds of trees that are usually to be found in picturesque scenery ; or which are likely to be introduced into pictures. The reader will have seen that there is no insuperable difficulty in the representation of such as METHOD OF WORK. 73 he may wish to produce. That which at first looked like a labyrinth of unconnected forms has been shown really to consist of simple multiplication of very similar shapes which can easily be, with a little practice, re¬ produced very rapidly, and that the number is rather in the imagination of what we know to be there, than in the image formed upon the eye. There is no occasion for the despair which so many people feel of ever being able to represent trees. They can be done by a little systematic and orderly pains in acquiring the peculiarities of each. One kind of tree at a time, a study of a spray first and a branch afterwards, a generalization of the forms first produced, and then such practice as will give the hand facility to produce these forms almost without a thought, these are the steps by which the mastery of tree-drawing may be acquired. When once mastered it is a means by which many a beautiful scene may be transmitted to paper and to memory, and we no longer feel debarred from attempt¬ ing the most pleasing portion of the scenery which we may wish to reproduce. Of course when one touch has been mastered another must be attempted ; for it will not do always to introduce the same tree and the same effects. Variety is one of the charming characteristics of Nature, and Art can only attempt to follow Nature in this, as in all other matters. Not only in the touch with which foliage is to be repre¬ sented must there be variety, but also in other matters of outline and general appearance. Choice of trees to be represented must be made, for no one would desire to have insignificant, deformed or in¬ elegant specimens, and when a tree is to be a 74 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. prominent object, naturally a fine one is required. On the other hand, in forest scenery where many trees are massed together, there should be some variety of age and size, as well as of kind, and by this means the grander are made more conspicuous than if all are left of an enormous size, for then there is no standard of comparison by which to judge. Trees too may be arranged differently for different kinds of ground. A hill-side covered with various kinds, especially when the autumnal tints are beginning to show, forms a very fine object. At another time a deep glen in which the growths are so tightly packed together that they seem to have slipped into the narrow space, affords a beauty of its own. A grove of trees, especially of such as have fine stems without much intervening foliage, beeches, Scotch firs and many others, is not only picturesque in itself, but it admits of other landscape effects being introduced in extensive distances seen between the stems. The beauties and delights of scenery in which trees take part are endless, but the painter, like every one else, must work hard, if he expects the satisfaction of enjoyment. Better than any one else he knows perfectly well that he can never represent all that Nature shows him; but still, whatever he is enabled to do, it is the more satisfactory the more he has con¬ scientiously endeavoured to follow her teaching. ( 75 ) INSTRUCTION FOR SCALE OF TINTS. In the following four pages will be found a set of tints for students who are advanced enough to sketch trees in water-colours. They have been arranged so that the student may wash the tints in the spaces over the words, beginning the wash at the top left-hand corner, and allowing the colour to flow down darker to the lower right-hand corner. All the divisions should be coloured in the same way, with the pigments printed in each square. Distant Foliage. 76 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. SCALE OF TINTS FOR PAINTING TREES IN WATER-COLOURS. Cobalt Cobalt and and Lemon Yellow. Yellow Ochre. Cobalt, Yellow Ochre and Rose Madder. Cobalt and Gamboge. Cobalt Cobalt and and Indian Yellow. Raw Umber. Near Foliage. Distant Foliage— continued. DISTANT FOLIAGE, 77 Cobalt, Gamboge and Rose Madder. Cobalt ; and Brown Madder. French Blue French Blue, and Gamboge, Yellow Ochre. Brown Madder. Indigo, Prussian Blue, Gamboge, Gamboge, j Lake. Burnt Sienna. i Near Foliage. 78 TREES, AND HOW TO DRAW THEM. Prussian Blue Prussian Blue and and Yellow Ochre. Indian Yellow. Prussian Blue Prussian Blue and and Yellow Ochre. Burnt Sienna. Indigo Indigo and and Gamboge. Indian Yellow. General Foliage. GENERAL FOLIAGE, 79 Indigo and Yellow Ochre. Indigo, Gamboge and Burnt Sienna. Indigo and Brown Pink. Indigo and Burnt Sienna. Indigo, Gamboge and Madder Brown. French Blue, Brown Pink and Madder Brown. LONDON: PRINTED BV WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. Vanishing point/ Dividing point Dindtsuf point Station point Station, point, • Station point