The lofty beech is a common site on the chalk downs of southern England. Its shallow root system clings to the slopes and is often eroded by the elements, revealing a complex lattice. This drawing is a distillation of the many companionable beeches that I…
Continue reading Three Beeches on a Hill
An ancient oak tree, over 400 years old, still marks part of the boundary of Sydmonton Common in north Hampshire. It is an intriguing entity – partially decayed and yet still living (its upper limbs sported green leaves when I first visited the tree in…
Continue reading Sydmonton Common Oak
This drawing takes the same viewpoint that I used for the oil painting Embankment. Both pieces are 40 x 50 cm. The painting was done with a knife, and focuses on the colour; the drawing, done with a fountain pen, focuses on tone and detail.…
Continue reading Embankment (ink)
This is a hollow oak tree in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire. While it isn’t one of the very special trees there that has been given a name and a sign bearing that name, it is very easy to spot from the path and it is, I…
Continue reading Golden Hollow – SOLD
This third beech tree in Selborne Hanger has a remarkable little cavern beneath its exposed roots, probably due to erosion. The roots form an open lattice – a “filigree” – over the space on the uphill side. The tree is at the foot of the hanger,…
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This very distinctive and characterful beech tree sits on the lip of a hollow in the hillside at Selborne, its triangular mass of exposed roots gracefully supporting it. I started to draw it on A3 paper but it didn’t feel right, so I switched to…
Continue reading Enigma – SOLD
The village of Selborne in Hampshire is known as the former home (now a museum) of the eighteenth century naturalist Gilbert White. It also has a rather splendid beech hanger (a hanger is a wood on a steep slope). I recently spent some lovely time in…
Continue reading Selborne Beech – SOLD
