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- To survive, such trees become short and stocky, their bent, asymmetric crowns reducing drag and presumably protecting a tree from violent gusts. The driver is the wind’s very touch — a response now called thigmomorphogenesis that has been observed for hundreds of years.
knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2020/bent-shape-rules-tree-form
The pronounced curve of a third makes the one of slighter curve seem nearly straight, while the elbow on a fourth is so marked that it tricks one into the belief that the full curve of its companion is slight.
But Dardick is also trying to answer a fundamental question: How do different trees get their distinctive shapes? From the towering spires of spruce and fir, the massive spreading limbs of an oak to the stately arching canopies of an elm, the skeletal shapes of trees offer signature silhouettes.
Look at the tree trunk - is it straight or curved? (Curved lines give more grace to the form, create more interest. You can interpret the subject as you're drawing - you are in charge!) If the trunk is curved - is the top of the tree in the same axis as the bottom? Visually connect them with a straight line.
- Available at All Branches
- A Natural Reaction
- When Genes Defy Gravity
- Reaching Upward and Outwards
Scientists have a word for the ability to adapt so readily: plasticity. In plants, this feature is both obvious and astounding. Most animals are born in specific shapes then just grow larger, but plants are modular — they grow in various iterations of two building blocks: shoots and roots. It is the first of these — where and when a shoot grows or ...
Physiology also underpins the plastic responses trees have to more extreme situations they may face. A tree on a high mountain peak or windswept coast must contend with exposure to mechanical forces that could topple and kill it. To survive, such trees become short and stocky, their bent, asymmetric crowns reducing drag and presumably protecting a ...
Much of the knowledge about the architecture of plants is rooted in millennia of human efforts to alter crop shapes to make them more suitable for cultivation, and modern science is now revealing the genetic changes that lie behind these creations. The lessons, it turns out, apply broadly across the plant kingdom, to herbaceous and woody species al...
As our boots crunch along the uneven ground, Dardick points at an errant orchard cat watching our tree tour from a distance. One row of trees stands so upright that a fencepost at the end of it is enough to block the row from view. These regimented trees are “pillar” peaches, and they are favorites of landscapers (one reason: it’s easy to get aroun...
- Rachel Ehrenberg
To draw a tree, begin with a trunk, often a slightly curved or straight line. From the trunk, draw branches that get thinner as they extend. Think of the branches as “arms” reaching out.
With branches drawn as sets of parallel lines, there is no cue to suggest that the branches are curving toward or away from you. By pulling some of the edge lines into the tree trunk, I can show that the curve on the right swings away from the viewer.
May 2, 2023 · Curved Lines. Curved lines communicate feelings of softness, elegance, and grace. They can create flowing, organic shapes that are pleasing to the eye and can give a sense of balance and harmony to a composition. Curved lines are often used to depict natural forms, such as the contours of the human body or the shapes of plants and the landscape.
