Explore John Blandy's 'Drawn to Trees' Exhibition at Regent's Park

iLPH went to the John Blandy: Drawn to Trees private viewing at Regent’s Park Gallery. It is a new exhibition celebrating six years of daily observation… which has culminated in this beautiful series of pastels.

APPLE TREE SET OF 9

A triptych artwork featuring three framed panels, each containing four botanical illustrations of lush greenery, trees, and tropical plants.

John has drawn Apple Tree Set of 9 by working on it day to day for 6 years. He says it’s like you are building up a language for how to deal with marks and form. As well as how to deal with trees. He told me he was building up a way of looking at things. This relates to one of the key themes of the exhibition which is about a lifetime John has spent looking closely at the natural world. In analysis, this pastel strongly stood out to me because of the variety of green, black and brown colours the viewer can see as the tree transforms throughout the year.

CRAB APPLE 2 PRIMROSE HILL SUMMIT:

A framed artwork depicting a serene landscape with trees, showcasing green foliage and a grassy area, highlighting a peaceful outdoor setting.

When drawing this pastel John told me it had been a hot summer. So he went under the trees to look at the hill to tell the story. John intended it to be a record of what was going on because a lot of people were meeting up at the top of the summit. This is from John’s perception of being under the trees. This relates to the key theme of the exhibit being about the different forms that trees take within different environments. In analysis, this pastel strongly stood out towards me because it is part of Primrose Hill Park.

APPLE TREE SET OF 4:

A framed artwork featuring four illustrated panels of trees and lush greenery, showcasing a vibrant tropical scene.

John told me that he drew this pastel showing little bits of the change and development. He was intending to show different bits of how it changes. This pastel strongly stood out towards me because of the dark and light colour variety. This continues both the themes of looking closely at the natural world as well as the different forms that trees take within different environments. But what stands out the most towards me is how the colour white is used to take away from the different colours featured in the pastels. The whiteness is used to display brightness.

Overall, a brilliantly artistic time was had at the exhibition. Standing in the exhibition felt like you were being surrounded by trees in different parts of a forest. It was artistically insightful seeing how the exhibition brought together recent studies of London’s parks. It was amazing meeting John Blandy. It was brilliant to see how artistically amazing all of John Blandy’s pastels were.