From blank page to drawing

I've decided to make a coloured pencil drawing. This time, as is often the case, the subject will be trees. I love to draw trees - they're such amazing things; huge and strong they stand firmly anchored to their spot while life moves around them and invisibly within them. It might sound silly, but to me, there's something wise and protective about them. The bigger they are, the older, the more they are to be cared for and respected. Their appearance changes with the seasons but basically they stay the same. Though it's not my thing to hug trees, I can fully understand why someone might feel the inclination! I do love to walk in the woods however and to take lots of photos of the trees and their bark. There's usually at least one shot amongst them that serves as inspiration for a drawing, and the drawing I'm about to make is from just such a photo.

This drawing is going to have the trunk of a tree visible in the foreground, with a few more trees at a distance in the background. I particularly liked the look of the moss on the bark and the black splits and marks down the trunk and wanted to make them the dominant feature of the drawing. A few thin trees are scattered to the left to give depth to the drawing and the background will remain vague and suggested so as not to detract from the foreground. Let's see if I can achieve my aim...

I've taken a sheet of wood-free (I could pretend I did this as a mark of respect to the trees, but that would be a fib - it's just from a drawing pad I had at hand!), 120gr. drawing paper. It has a fairly rough surface which is good when you're intending to add layers of colour. The next step was to measure out the drawing area (20.7 x 24 cm) and to sketch in some outlines with a 2B pencil. At this stage I'm hating the paper, I'm thinking the drawing is never going to be a success and I want to run away screaming! It's always like this! I keep looking at my computer screen (that's where I have my photo for reference purposes) and switching to my Facebook page, my Etsy shop, my email... anything to get away for a second.

But it has to be done. I feel the urge, and there's no ignoring it! I wish I had a pure love relationship with drawing, and could sit peacefully and contentedly drawing away for hours, but it's actually a real love/hate relationship every time, and the love stage has not yet arrived. That comes later, hopefully....