Tree Mysteries

Trees are vessels for myth and metaphor in the history of painting across time and cultures.  From the biblical tree of knowledge and life to the Druidic Tannebaum later known as the Christmas tree, to the liberty tree, we find trees to be adaptable symbols.  Their symbolism often correlates with their shape for example; the priapic Cyprus is often paired with the rounded olive tree.  Da Vinci was an early observer of trees but, he used them symbolically in his paintings and configured their identity to lie between observed reality and idealized symbol. You can see an example of this in his unfinished “Adoration of the Virgin” (see example 1). The principle tree shelters Mary and Jesus and stands in as a foretelling of the coming cross as well as a reference to the trees of knowledge and life from Eden.

In the Romantic age, early in the 19^th century Caspar David Friedrich used trees for their symbolic value as well but, his trees appeared more naturally observed with less reference to iconic form (see example 2). The proponents of tree as symbol continued into the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Andrew Wyeth continued this tradition but, applied even more rigorous observation to his expression of trees. He also let gesture and accidents of paint play bigger roles in the expression of trees as you can see in his watercolor in example 3. In example 4 he is more cautious and overtly symbolic.

Example 1. Da Vinci’s idealized tree.

Example 2. Caspar David Friedrich, 1824.

Example 3. Andrew Wyeth, watercolor sketch.

Example 4. Andrew Wyeth, exhibit watercolor.

My own examples here use photographic substrates. The first example (example 5) uses an inverted photo of a blurred Grand Central Station Interior. I coated the image with a polymer then I overlaid the forest painting exploiting the colors in the substrate.  As a reference I looked to two black and white photos of mine. You see the palette, the forest and the photo references in example 6.

Example 5. Grand Central Station photo substrate.

Example 6.  Demonstration board.

What follows are three tree/forest images which merge photography and painting.  Example 7a presents the original black and white photo.  The first image to be a merger of the photo and paint can be seen in example 7. I used selected tree shapes from the underlying photo but otherwise disregarded the photo information in order to build light and a stream (not present in the photo). This same photo imagery under-lays the next example (example 8) but with greater disregard for the photo’s information. Instead I used the photo for textures.  Example 9 shows the next step with this image which introduces atmospheric solar effects cascading on to the forest floor and stream bed.

Example 7a. The black and white photo.

Example 7, photo-painting merger.

Example 8, alternative to example 7 with same substrate,

Example 9, after atmospheric effects,

My final examples 10 and 11 present a tree with a tangle of limbs. I discovered this tree on Maine’s mid-coast.  Its branches were lichen encrusted and interwoven.  There is no photo substrate with this image, just paint. Example 10 demonstrates the first step of the painting.  Example 11 shows the 2^nd step of the painting. It is 24×24 in oil on white enamel anodized aluminum.

Example 10, step one, Tangled Tree.

Example 11, step two of Tangle Tree,

Let me extend two invitations to you.  First, we still have an opening for our trip to Spain, the Prado and a week of plein air painting in Toledo. The trip begins on September 12. If interested call the Springfield Museum of Art at jfontaine@springfieldmuseums.org or call Jeanne Fontaine at 413 314 6482. You can see our list of workshops on at daviddunlop.com.

Secondly, I will give a 5 day workshop at The Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Sun Valley Idaho day workshop in beautiful Sun Valley with its magnificent mountains and streams. The workshop runs from June 20 through the 24th. If you are interested in this workshop with me contact the Sun Valley Center for the Arts at SunValleycenter.org  or call Sarah Kolash at 208 726 9491 or 208 309 0477.