Sustained Investigation #6

Inquiry Question: How do trees have an impact on communities, including their own and others?

• Inspired by trees that have an importance in my own life

• Using map of hometown and new home leaf

Reflection on Work: 

For this piece, I wanted to show how trees relate to my own personal experiences, and I wanted to do so in a creative way. I chose the outline of a leaf because I thought it would bring a new look to my piece and stray from the usual rectangular shape of my other pieces. After researching the Bünting leaf, a map painted in the shape of a leaf in 1581, I realized I could make my own little “world” as a leaf. I wanted to use watercolors because they give more detail and show the layering of the colors, which works well for the red maple leaves. I wanted a lighter paper weight because I knew curling the edges like Katherine Schmidt drew would add more detail and make it more realistic. I spent a lot of time researching the type of trees that would be found in my current home so that I knew what leaf shape would fit the best for my story. I used my hometown map as a guide for where the “streets” and veins of the leaf would go because I wanted to tie both the present and past memories together. There was also a lot of sketching of different trees that were important to me, and narrowing down which would work and have the best sentimental value. This process included visiting some of these trees for reference photos. 

There was a lot of practice beforehand because, although it looks simple, I knew I needed to get all the materials right and be very detail-oriented. I tried many different papers to get the perfect type for bending without creasing that still absorbed the water from the watercolors. I did lots of tests of watercolors, both regular and pencil, and wrote down which number so I could remember. As I was about to cut out the leaf from the paper, I realized that since I was bending it, that meant I would need to paint the backside as well, which was a last-minute revision that was important. 

This piece was a great way for me to test out connecting my personal community with trees, but now I think I want to circle back to the whole community for my last few pieces. I’d be interested to see how people are able to give back to trees since most of my art involves how trees give back to people. I think this was a great time to use watercolor, but for my next project, I’ll want more detail, and that will be easier to accomplish with acrylics. 

Visual Art Journal:

Katherine Schmidt: Leaf Studies