I've just noticed that I did these 3 doodles (which I've shown before) exactly 41 years ago today (yesterday). October 28th 1974.
Funnily, I was recently in the small nearby town where they were drawn, and the trees are looking exactly the same, just a tad older.
Plane trees are a big element in the French urban landscape; they dominate many a town square and avenue. France wouldn't be France without them.
40 comments:
I like the second one particularly, because I like the nakedness of the tree.
It was also fun drawing downhill.
Envious of your drawing skills. (I know exactly where that is of course!)
Looks like they are pruned back hard every year. Or is it called pollarding? I like the simplicity of your drawing.
I love those…especially the first 2.
To say that I really like the second one sounds a bit lame: but I do. It has a something that really appeals to me.
Of course.
The French are the masters of pollarding; especially with these Planes.
You're very kind.
Thank you Graham.
You've captured the essence of a French town/village beautifully.
Other European countries could take some lessons from the French and provide towns with adequate trees and greenery. Atmospheric and good for the soul.
They certainly look beautiful here.
Oh Cro ...... I LOVE your paintings. As Graham says, they are so appealing. Do you paint much now ? XXXX
Your pictures are more than doodles, Cro. They are lovely.
I am going to check these trees out on the Internet as I have never heard of them.
Nice drawings. London wouldn't be the same without planes either. I hear the council are felling as many trees as possible in Sheffield, because it is cheaper to do that than maintain them.
These are excellent. I really like the tree.
Lovely drawings ! Pen and wash perfect for the subject - I like the unpredictability of the wash.
Not a lot.... only when I feel inclined.
They are very beautiful trees with highly patterned trunks.
They've been chopping down roadside trees here, in the name of elf-n-safety.
Thanks you Lisa.
And simple to carry around.
They certainly are odd looking trees. The first picture looks, to my Canadian eyes, like snow on the ground.
The French love to torture their trees; they won't leave nature alone.
It took a while for me to get used to seeing the plane trees cut back so hard, but I have grown to love the winter shape of them and find myself marvelling at how a full head of leaves and branches can grow from out of the cut back wood.
Love your drawings, so simple but so expressive.
I love them. We even have some outside our tiny village Mairie.
They cut back all the roadside trees around here to prevent them from felling power lines in the winter winds. I thought of you yesterday as I tried making some of your pickled onions. Have you posted your recipe?
My father used to rave about London planes - are they the same as the ones in France?
Yes, if you type 'pickled onions' into the search strip (top left), you should find it. I was just about to do some more myself (for Christmas).
Yes, they're the same, with the speckled trunks.
Frech towns are not the greenest !I live in Berlin which is considered to be the greenest town in Europe.
Mr. Cro your paintings are besutiful. Love them.
Thank you Mia.
Love the drawings Cro. There's something very satisfying about working with pen and wash.
First one is my favourite.
Wonderful drawings !
Just looked at some of my old sketch books and had forgotten what I had in each book.
After I had read your post yesterday about what the
WHO said about bacon and all meats. On today Martha Stewart her recipes today are all about BACON !
And we all know everything is better with bacon.
cheers, parsnip
I agree. I always have a pad, pen, brush, and a small bottle of water with me.
I quite like that one too. It was drawn from a friend's kitchen window.
Good for Stewart, I hope it was as a result of the W.H.O. nonsense.
I'm always glad to find that an old tree friend is still thriving. :)
Yes, we have come to love them now that we have finally managed to see them with leaves on them. When we first visited France in the early Spring they were just these funny tortured bones of trees and we really wondered about them and why they were trimmed that way but having now experienced their Summer shade in lovely village squares and long avenues of them we finally understand
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