I recently took a lot of photos of trees because I’ll be using them as references for my next hobby: learning how to draw them. I used to draw a lot, but I haven’t picked up a pencil for nearly 10 years because I gave myself the daunting task of writing a book, which somehow turned into three.
I’m excited to do something completely different. Writing was fun, and I enjoyed doing it, but I can’t resist admiring these beautiful branches:
I’m inspired by Caspar David Friedrich
And how Van Gogh could see this:
to produce this:
Here are some tree photos I took that will serve as my learning tools. I’m curious to see what type of style I’ll eventually develop.
I’ll occasionally post updates to chart my progress!
My newest book is available as an advanced reader’s copy! Click on this link if you want to read and then post a review by the Nov 10 release date: https://booksprout.co/reviewer/review-copy/view/314632/inner-atlas
Interesting coincidence (you’ll see why) that your subject is photography… And YAY!!! that you are getting into drawing!!!
John Berger has been a cultural hero of mine since I was in my late teens. In other words, since before you were born. A. O. Scott, who wrote this essay about him, was my favorite movie critic for years until, a few years ago, he “came out” as a full-fledged intellectual and became a “critic” of…everything. What astounded me, reading this, was Scott’s admission that he came upon Berger, apparently, at about the same age as I did (this is guesswork for me, or perhaps, more appropriately, an assumption).
Anyway, no matter how familiar you are with Berger yourself this is a great read… The only argument I have with Scott is his use, one time, of the word “conservative” towards the end. Berger was never conservative. He was always shifting focus and that’s all this was.
LikeLike