Spring Scene by Darsie Bruno, NY 2007

Images: Fir Tree, Tree Trunk Trio, Pine Tree, Oak Branch, Quaking Aspen, Maple Pair, Skagbark Hickory sm, Black Oak, Three Bare Trees, Water Grass, Duck Trio in Flight lg, Crooked Path, Waterside Bluff lft, Waterside Bluff rt, and H20 Pattern

This scene is 8 1/2 x 11 on glossy photo paper using the Colorbox Stylus with Marvy Dye Inks, Galaxy Markers and Sakura GellyRoll Pens.

When starting this scene, I knew I wanted to use the waterside bluff, left and right, as my focal point. I was looking to do a cove with spring trees and bushes surrounding the banks.

With the Colorbox Stylus tool, and Marvy ink pads, I sponged Salvia Blue, Deep Lilac, and Bubble Gum Pink on glossy paper. I then stamped the waterside bluff, left and right, in the lower portion of the paper which is 8 1/2 x 11 in size. I filled the stream with the "water pattern" stamp.

I then began stamping my trees "Spruce Tree" (sm) and the tips of Pine Tree along the backside of the "cove" in Jungle Green. Next, I stamped "Black Oak" in front of them in green ink. I framed that section with "Shagbark Hickory" trees on both sides in black ink.

On the right side, I stamped "Tree Trunk Trio" and over stamped the "Oak Branch" until it covered the tops of the trio trunks. I over stamped Maple Duo on the trunks in green ink.

On the left side, I stamped "Three Bare Trees" high on the page, then stamped "Quaking Aspens" (lg) below it. I stamped "Quaking Aspens" (sm) to the left and finished the scene with "Maple Pair" as bushes under the trees.

Next, with an angled paint brush, I added pink ink to the "Three Bare Trees", purple ink to both "Shagbark Hickory's" and green ink to the "Quaking Aspens". The small trees at the back of the cove were painted with greens, browns and pink inks.

The "Maple Pair" bushes were painted with dark green and black inks. The "Tree Trunk Trio" was painted with brown inks, and the "Oak Branch" was painted with two shades of green ink.

The water was painted using the Stylus with the same inks used in the sky with more intensity: Salvia Blue, Deep Lilac and Bubble Gum Pink.

Then came the use of Gel pens and opaque markers. With a repetitive motion, I added countless dots to the trees to simulate blossoms. The Shagbark Hickory trees were dotted in white, green and purple gel and opaque pens. The "Three Bare Trees" were dotted with white, red, green and pink gel and opaque markers.

The "bushes" were dotted in a haphazard fashion with red, purple, blue and green opaque markers. Small dots were added along the banks to represent flowers in various colors. The "Oak Branch" was dotted with two green opaque markers.

Last, I added "Duck Trio in Flight" lg and gently colored their wings with a brown gel pen.

The trick to making these trees and bushes look real is the random, intensive dotting that takes a bit of time. Random is the key word. The more controlled or symmetrical look you have, the less it will look like trees.

Darsie Bruno '07