If You Go Into the Woods

Ink and graphite on paper, 2024
35cm x 50cm

Just behind my house, there is a forest footpath that I often take on my daily walks. It's a quiet, peaceful place, yet full of hushed life and subtle movement.

In this piece, I aimed to create an immersive experience for the viewer - as much as possible within the confines of a monochromatic 2D drawing. Follow me. Let the footpath draw you deeper into the forest, leading you among the slender trees, beneath the canopy of intertwining branches. Can you hear the rustle of dried leaves under your feet? Can you spot, out of the corner of your eye, something scuttling in the undergrowth? Do you have the feeling of being watched?

In my composition, I worked to harmonize the variety of shapes and surfaces in a way that would evoke the complex, entangled beauty of the forest. I employed various ink techniques, from stippling to hatching to scribbling, to help me render the range of textures. Then, I used the more ephemeral graphite to deepen the shadows beneath the trees and to invoke the ghostly presence you are bound to feel, if you go into the woods.