When it comes to drawing leaves, I love drawing them, especially just as random doodles. It has always felt satisfying and relaxing to do so on the last page of my notebook. So when it came to drawing vegetation while observing, it didn’t feel like a task to be completed. Speaking about my experience with the previous two representation tasks of performances unique to the community and that of study about cohabitants, this one was the most relaxing. It felt like a good break from sketching human figures.

I started with attempting trees from my chosen site, but it took me a while to get a hold of my observation skills. I started with full tree sketches using microns as the medium. After about three to four attempts using the same medium and the type of trees I chose, I realized that I was not keen on capturing the tree trunks and the struggle was visible in my sketches. My observations and detailing were more inclined towards the foliage and leaflets of trees and plants.

So, for the next sketches, I focused more on plants with unique leaves and flowers within my neighborhood. I attempted to draw these by changing the medium to touch pens and brush pens, considering the type of soft details I was trying to capture. Also, I feel this medium is a lot more satisfying while drawing.

Most of the sketches I made later, were more focused on leaves and small planters, both indoor and outdoor. I also felt that the medium helped me highlight the different shades that were observed within the leaves themselves.

Somehow, when it came to sketching with a pen, I tend to work in broken lines. It has become an unintentional habit. After the initial few sketches, I was getting a hold of the ink. When it came to parts of plants, and intricate different shapes of leaves, the ink was able to capture those observations. The touch pens and brush pens helped me improve the same sketches.

Overall, this exercise helped me improve my observation skills. Even within the observations, defining the parts where I was impressed with what I saw and what I captured was something different to realize. When I look back at all the sketches for this entire exercise, I can easily understand the parts where my interest is at its peak and converse. Also, in the entire process of all the sketches, the observations kept on zooming in on the different plants. And in the later sketches, only certain parts have been detailed mainly a cluster of leaves.

It was a different exercise to attempt when I link it with my academic education. I felt that I haven’t thought like this, especially about space-defining elements. I feel that the presence of vegetation within a space changes the character of space by bringing in liveliness. Not only liveliness, but the indefinite shape of the vegetation also creates its own identity within a space. I feel that I was able to observe those plants with a certain amount of patience which kept on developing as I sketched further.