Searching for the Ideal Oak

[katura_art]

One of the things I love about being an illustrator is that it gives me an opportunity to look at my everyday surroundings with new eyes. This past September, I was invited to work on a project for TreePeople, a wonderful non-profit urban forestry organization in Los Angeles. The central image of the illustration was an oak tree-not a specific tree

Comments

Painting trees?

[anonymous]

It's exactly this superficiality of SoCal that I had to get away from. I want nature to be natural! On the other hand, I understand your need to meet your audience's expectations though. I love your work! See you soon! --johnik

Re: Painting trees?

[katura_art]

Ah, nature! The debate over what is and isn't natural is an interesting one; at the Arboretum where I currently work, volunteers put in countless hours to remove invasive blackberry vines, as well as keeping the native Douglas fir trees from crowding into the meadows and converting them to forestland instead of a nice open savannah. It takes a lot of artifice to maintain a "natural-looking" habitat!

And to clarify, I do think the browner trunk and roots of the final tree ended up looking nicer. But the painted palm tree story was too funny not to share!