Scary Tree

One of my favorite art books is The Artist’s Guide to Sketching by James Gurney and Thomas Kinkade. It was published in 1984 when the authors were in their mid-twenties. It’s out of print so if you’re able to get your hands on a copy it’s well worth it.

I remember when my son was three years old he would love to look through the book. The “Using Imagination” section features a scary looking tree stump creature on the section-spread, and my son would look at it in fearful fascination. He focused on it for so long I was able to capture this quick sketch.

He said "That monster tree scares me. I hate that book of that monster tree." He could've put it down but just kept poring over it. It made me smile how he was terrified but couldn't stop staring at it (I hope it didn't scar him for life).

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