The Black Cottonwood – Salicales Salicaceae Populus trichocarpa if you wanna get picky.
So here’s a sketch I did of some black cottonwood branches in early Spring of this year. It’s a subject I come back to time and again. Leaves are few and far between in early February, so I thought I’d tackle some of the otherwise hidden textures present on the gnarly leftovers from last season. Cottonwood has such character and always has something to offer when I’m itching to sketch and stuck for ideas.
Love em or hate em, I think here in the Lower Mainland of BC, almost everyone has a relationship with the cottonwood. This local tree evokes all kinds of emotion in people, for different reasons, at different times if the year. Every season seems to offer a number of reasons to hate and enjoy this local monster.
Like when it’s allergy season. I count myself as one of the lucky ones who get to enjoy the sweet fragrance of their sticky buds on long walks this time of year.. while others need to remember their daily, 24 hour, fast-acting, non-drowsy antihistamine or suffer the litany of symptoms we all know so well from the seasonal pharma-jingles on the radio, television and such.
Or later in the year when its fluff season. Making it appear to snow in June, the fluffy seeds accumulate into large drifts, becoming knee deep for weeks on end where I live. Every year, big gobs of fuzz inevitably sneak their way into the house and collect in the most hard to reach places. But outside, like in Burnaby’s numerous wetland and repirian habitats, the air can erupt in a beautiful storm of unseasonably flurry-like conditions with the softest of breezes.. and you don’t have to worry, most people are allergic to the pollen not the fluff, so dive in!
Or is it when the winds pickup in early fall. The air starts to cool and the large egg-shaped leaves, almost as wide as they are long and beautifully coloured, litter the paths and sidewalks. That time of year when you get to throw on a light jacket and maybe a scarf for the first time since last year. The breeze starts to blow and you notice how loud the dried leave are rustling high up.. and then you look back down and discover your car’s windshield has been destroyed by a fallen branch as thick as your leg. You know, that branch you park under everyday on the street outside, failing to notice its precarious growth and precise targeting.
Maybe it’s the critters? The Black Cottonwood is the ‘live fast, and die young’ poster child of our local deciduous tree species and do not live very long. However, they grow very quickly and they grow huge. It is one of the few trees big enough to hold bald eagle nests. When branches break off, large open cavities are created high up in the canopy.. perfect nesting sites for any number of owl and woodpecker species, raccoon, squirrel, etc. A sure favourite of numerous species including invertebrates, plants, and eventually fungi and bacteria.
And at ground level and below, the cottonwood’s aggressive and uncontrollable growth can sometimes be costly to home owners. Branches shed regularly and cause damage to roofs and gutters. Roots can destroy sidewalks, driveways, plumbing and drainage. And they are pretty indestructible. In fact the shoots and roots contain so much rooting hormone, even a small piece of fallen branch can root and become a clone. They survive most major weather damage and even a clear-cut at ground level won’t kill this survivor.
Indeed there are plenty of grounds for disappointment and anger in the case against the the Black Cottonwood. But it does play an important role in our local environment, as well as in our homes. In fact, if you happen to be using Scotties toilet paper here in BC, it probably came from cottonwood pulp grown in Chilliwack and made in New Westminister. So there’s that. Maybe not such a pain in the ass after all.
Watercolor paintings were done on De Serres Aquarelle 300 gsm coldpress watercolour paper by Fabriano. I can’t remember the exact colours I used in my ‘soup’ of paint, but they are most definitely Windsor & Newton Professional watercolour and possibly some raw sienna by PWC Premium Extra Fine watercolour. I tried a stylized approach to painting the branch above. I like how it turned out.
For the pencil sketches, I used the same mechanical pencil I use for most of my drawing in the field. I found it in the car under the passenger seat, so who knows where it came from. It’s loaded with .07mm HB lead. I’m drawing in one of my Moleskine 13 x 21cm plain paper Cahier Journal. I absolutely love the paper’s smooth finish.
Couple Extras:
I think that hormone thing is pretty interesting. I have heard there is enough hormone present, that an extract of the shoots can be used as a rooting hormone for all types of cuttings. Shoots are gathered, chopped and soaked in cold water for a day to create the solution.
I also know, from the horrible stains they can leave on your patio and concrete, that a yellow dye can be obtained from the leaf buds. I have made walnut ink before.. I’ll have to try this next year sometime.
It’s also cool to note that on older trees, the bark becomes fissured, gnarly, thick, and very hard.. hard enough to cause sparks when being cut by a chainsaw.
– Aaron
