Attack of the Tree Monster!

Recently I wrote about Christmas holidays, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves! We can’t forget Halloween — my personal favorite holiday.

The Christmas pine was the first part of a drawing assignment, which then went on to include tree branches of all different varieties. I do enjoy drawing sticks and branches as well as trees, so I settled in that morning with my pencil and sketchbook, ready to have a very good time. I drew several branches, and then after taking a short break, I came back to my sketchbook and laughed as I saw this tree monster. I swear he was smiling at me!

 

Now, here’s the thing. Had I set out to draw a tree monster, I wouldn’t have known where or how to even begin. The appearance of this creature, you see, was purely accidental, and that’s one of the reasons why art can be so much fun. Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, we end up — at least I end up — with something completely different from what I thought I was going to draw.

I love this guy. I laugh every time I see him, and I can close my eyes and imagine him creeping through the forest. He’s going to become the center of my Halloween art — now that I know how to draw him! It’s easy. All I have to do is pretend I’m drawing tree branches, and… there’s a monster. Seriously, I see a lot of possibilities for this fellow. For Halloween, I’ll probably add spooky eyes.  Maybe I’ll have a dried leaf or two hanging from his twiggy fingertips. I know I’ll have lots of fun drawing and painting my tree monster, and I can’t wait to share him with our young grandsons.

Maybe it didn’t work all that great as a tree branch, but as a monster, it’s perfection, indeed.