Sketching trees
Drawing like I was a kid again is such a nice exercise in meditation. And being in nature, disconnected from our daily devices is always a nice escape when you can do it. So combining the two makes for a relaxing activity.
I don’t sketch as often as I should be, but when I do I try to make it a social one when I can. Last year I asked fellow members of the environmental group I’m in to join me at UP Diliman. There is a neat little “forest” that sits beside the UP Film building. 10 years ago I visited the area when the trees were newly planted. I had just joined the organization and since the trees were all trees native to the Philippines, I took some photos as a way to study them. 10 years later I returned and took photos to compare. It truly is more like a forest now.
No one showed up to my social sketch session, save for one person, a fellow member I hadn’t seen in a long time. I had already finished my sketch, but it was nice to stop and catch up. The tree I drew was the Banaba, a tree I’ve come to know through the years because of how its flowers bloom on its branches. I think it’s also called “crepe flower” or something. I’m too lazy to fact check. But if you take a closer look at its flowers, they are very delicate, soft, and easily wilt. I’m not a botanist, but when I see a tree blooming with violet flowers on branches pointing upwards to the sky, it is likely a Banaba tree. But don’t quote me on that.
When I returned to this little patch of forest I saw the Banaba tree in bloom, so I decided to sketch it. A day or two before, I made a prompt, similar I guess to what you would make for AI. But this one was for humans, and I decided to make it hand written to give it an additional human touch. If you ever decide you want to take a break and be with nature, feel free to read through my prompt and draw what you wish.
Besides drawing like a kid again, I like to color like a kid again too. I went to National Bookstore and got one of those cheap watercolor paint sets and used that to color my art. I sat on one of the few cement benches in the area and started coloring. I noticed one or two small ants crawling on me, but I let them be. The wind was blowing and it was nice and quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of loud jeepneys and black clouds of smoke not too far away on Katipunan Ave.
It’s too bad we don’t have a lot of green spaces in Metro Manila, or most metros in the Philippines it seems. Cebu City feels like a concentrated dose of Metro Manila in some areas where it feels like rush hour all day. But there are some cities where there is hope. Iloilo City is one of them, and Davao still has some nice green areas within and outside the city bounds.
Wherever you live, I hope there is still a green patch of peace and quiet. Someplace where you can just sit and appreciate the trees that are still there. You can take a picture, or even better, you can draw one.
