This huge beech has stood for perhaps 250 years but has now become a monument to the ingenuity of tree life.
I first sketched it last winter, when I was impressed by its sheer mass – unusual to find a beech this big in Scotland. It was enclosed to prevent the public from the danger of falling limbs and had clearly been there since the establishment of the parkland of Haddo House, a tree signalling status and grandeur in the past, or a beloved landmark for locals and tree lovers in the present.
Now I found it shockingly horizontal with its crumpled branches all piled up, tangled and broken. It was difficult to decipher, but I made my lines flow along its form as best I could, making two drawings, one from each side. The tree tidy-ers had already started the clear up, so it felt urgent to record it now.
I had an idea at an unreasonably early hour yesterday – what would a bigger drawing of this fallen beech look like across 3 panels? So off to the studio I went to find out. Lots of scribbly marks and charcoal smudges happened in response to the chaotic energy of the shattered branches.
It felt right to make this larger study while my memory of being there was still fresh.
Here are two short videos I made before it disappeared…