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Artistic Sketch Explorations: From Round Leafed Mallee to Leafy Abstract Landscapes
- Charlotte Wensley
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
What is it about this leaf?
If you're one of my Instagram followers you'll have seen a gradual unfolding of some small paintings on paper using the Round Leafed Mallee as inspiration. I had never come across this eucalypt leaf until it arrived in a bunch of flowers, as background greenery to some beautiful blooms.
| Shapely Beginnings & Visual Diversity
I began by exploring the shapes with a printmaking session, which you can learn more about here.
I was instantly captivated by these leaves, perhaps it was the roundness, which is a contrast to some of the more 'angular' shapes that have been weaving their way into my paintings of late - particularly my leaf shapes which emerged from drawing on the painting surface.
The proportion of the rounded leaf and the tiny stem also had a loveliness about it which I couldn't ignore. They reminded me of a natural whole tree silhouette - with a canopy and a trunk but in a miniature form. The leaves appear strangely uniform from a distance but in fact there is plenty of diversity between individual leaves, each one having it's own character.
Nature has a way of evoking feelings that inform much of my visual language and these beautiful leaves became a catalyst for a new way to start my creative explorations and a series of small paintings on paper.
| Using Collage & Drawing to Start Creative Abstract Explorations
Having had a studio tidy up I found I had a handful of papers, which I'd previously prepared with gesso, in different sizes. Some were squares and others were rectangles ranging from about 20cm x 20cm up to A3 in size. I laid them all out on a table to create a large irregular sheet of paper.
Then using some pieces of print in blues, turquoise and light green, I 'stitched' the papers together by gluing paper over the joins in a random way.
I then began drawing and connecting lines and shapes with charcoal and moved onto adding washes of paint, treating the surface as a whole and physically moving around the surface to lay down energetic marks with a variety of brushes.
| Deconstructing the 'Canvas'
The journey continued once the paint was dry with the deconstruction of the surface. I cut the pieces of paper back into their original sizes to leave myself with a selection of random papers with collage, paint, charcoal marks and washes of acrylic colour on them.
My intention was to create a surface which I could work with, where I felt released from any expectation of creating a finished painting - hence my use of sheet paper, which I usually feel is an extension of my sketchbook.
| Transformation into Abstract Landscapes
From there I worked into each of the paper pieces with paint and charcoal, observing how the different textures of the papers needed nuanced ways of working in terms of applying paint and layering colour.
Working this way, using prints made from the actual leaves, collaging and then revisiting the leaf shapes with drawing and paint, embodies the fusion between the natural and the abstract.
These little paintings became focused on how these working processes came together when balanced with colour and notions of landscape. The process itself challenges traditional representations of natural forms and brings these elements into a soft and gentle emotive space which I began to really enjoy as I was working.
| Emotional Connection
I worked on these little abstract painting explorations over the course of a few weeks, giving each one space to breathe and giving me time to contemplate their meaning and purpose for coming into being. And most importantly to sit with the strong emotional connection I found with these pieces. Sometimes it's not immediately obvious why a shape or colour palette resonates so strongly and it's necessary to sit with it for a while and allow for rumination!
I began to feel a sense of nostalgia about this work. And after a great deal of pondering, I think this feeling emerged as a result of the leaf shape reminding me so much of the ancient oak and beech trees that are found everywhere in the landscape in England, where I grew up and lived until I was in my 20's.
Who would have thought that an native element of the Australian landscape would evoke such strong memories of an element of the English landscape. I have always thought of the two landscapes as being poles apart visually.
But the connection was there and an emotional pandora's box of memories was opened!
| Sketching and Exploring Creates New Artistic Directions
This seemingly random quest to explore the attributes of a humble eucalypt leaf has stirred new emotions, expanded my visual language, given me new insights into blending realism with abstraction, nature and interpretation.
And most importantly set my mind thinking in new ways, with a list of ideas and possibilities that I might want to explore in greater depth, including ways in which I can honour my love of pattern and detail in different ways.
In many ways, small paintings that emerge during time spent exploring like this are arguably of greater value than anything else I might ever create - but don't let that put you off investing in finished painting!
| Final Thoughts
The fusion of nature and abstraction has led to truly meaningful creative expressions that may end here, or may keep wandering. I'm feeling strongly about the unique and highly individual perspective that has emerged during the making of this work and for now I'm holding onto that and as an outcome - if I needed one!
Check out my work-in-progress video of the process and one of the paintings being created.
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