Trees and their Roots

I have been hit over the head with this repeated design lately. 

The image of a leafy tree with the repeated image of the root system below. 

Every time I see it I am fascinated by how the top of the tree's branches is basically a symmetrical image of the roots. 

So, this gave me an idea... 

Teach kids to draw trees and roots by focusing on the "branching off" of the limbs. 

I would begin teaching the branching of technique with this lesson below...

http://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/2014/05/tree-silhouette-with-concentric-sky.html

Then roll into the pictures beneath...

1. Fold a large paper into quarters with the center point of the paper being in the bottom right corner...

Draw the trunk thick at the bottom and as you go up the center begin branching off into finer limbs.

 

2. Outline this with a Sharpie...

 

3. Open up the paper and fold just in half (instead of quarters) and trace the Shapied lines onto other 3 spots with a pencil on a tracing table or a window.

 

You should end up having an image like this...

 

4. The tree at the top of the paper can be the bush. I try to explain first to the students that we look UP to trees. So, we see the inside and underside... kindof like an open umbrella. 

So... I have them draw a "cloud"like line that cuts off some of the tips of the limbs (see in the photo below the pencil tipped limbs that got cut off?). 

Then draw an oval guideline around that keeping the the center bottom line of the tree. 

5. Around this oval guideline, make a larger "cloud" around it. I emphasize that it does not have to be perfect or else it looks too fake. 

6. Draw in lines that go up the trunk and bend with limbs to act as texture for the bark. 

7. Use stippling for the bush, making the inside of the "Umbrella" the place that has more condensed stipples to show the shadow of the bush. SPread the stippples out further on the top of tree.

 

Final after the bush is added...

 

8. Go back to the roots and add more branching off...

 

Optional color-

Horizontal lighter/warmer lines for the root side

and 

Concentric Circles with darker/cooler lines for the sky.

* I was coloring the sky randomly, but when I was done, I wished I would have only used cool colors for the sky. This would POP out the white bush and POP out the roots giving the lesson an entire new dimension.... live and learn :)

Tree Silhouette with Concentric Sky

Lesson inspired by

http://josettebrouwer.edublogs.org/files/2009/02/img_2215.jpg

I was wanting to end the school year with some easy lessons and thought I could teach them to draw trees in a creative way. To me, the hardest part to teach when drawing trees is the branching off

(diverging thickness to thinness of the branches).

This assignment mainly focuses on that part of the tree branching off. 

1. Begin with starting in one corner of the picture making lines that are far apart and gradually get closer together as they go down. Each branch should gradually diverge into another and then into another. Do this until it gets to the edge or goes off the edge of the paper.

FOCUS: main branch is the biggest & thickest one, the last branch is the smallest & thinnest.

where the branch stems from is the thickest part and it will always be smaller than the branch it came from.

 

2. Sharpie the branches.

 

3. Using a pencil, find a spot in the corner to begin drawing concentric circles. These circles should have the same center in common. This will be a sort of abstract light source. Encourage students to do this lightly. Go ahead and go through the branches and erase later.

 

4. Use crayons or colored pencils to use a variety of colors to fill in between the circles. Avoid coloring in the branches. OPTION for teaching color value... You can have students start with lighter colors on the center circle and get darker as they go out. 

 

5. Use black and grey marker to fill in the tree branches. Try to get kids to color it in following the direction of the branch to appear to be bark like texture...

6. Fill in any paper showing in the tree with grey marker. 

7. Use a white crayon to graze over the side of the limbs 

that are closest to the light source (center circle)

 

OPTION TWO

Using Black Paper, white colored pencil, and construction paper crayons.

1. Same as above step 1

 

2. Same as above step 2

 

3. Use crayola construction paper crayons to color concentric circles.

I laid them out in value color order, using the 

white on the center, then out to yellow, orange pink, green, blue, and violet. 

(light to dark)

 

4. I used a black marker and crayon on the branches going the same direction of the growth. 

 

Same lesson with markers only...

Concentric marker circles on value order

Being the art geek I am, I wondered if my colors really were in the correct value order....

I was off just a bit with the Iguana Green and green. They were darker than I thought. A fun way of checking is taking the colored pic and changing it to black and white.

Still prett even though vale is off ;)

FINISHED...

I have not tried this with my students yet, but when I do I will post the pictures. 

YAY FOR NEW IDEAS!!!