Angel Oak
Title: Angel Oak
Medium: Charcoal pencil on Strathmore 300 series paper
Dimensions: 50 x 20 inches
Date: June 20, 2025
In this panoramic charcoal drawing, I capture the powerful presence of the Angel Oak, a legendary tree located in South Carolina.
With its sweeping, timeworn limbs and textured bark, the tree dominates the composition, reaching in all directions like an ancient guardian. The absence of foliage and the stark monochromatic palette evoke both endurance and stillness — a meditation on time, memory, and natural resilience.
Rendered in meticulous detail with charcoal, Angel Oak invites viewers to pause, reflect, and find quiet awe in the slow architecture of nature.
As an artist, I am drawn to forms that endure — that speak without words, hold memory without narrative, and suggest strength without force. The Angel Oak, with its centuries-old presence and sprawling limbs, captivated me as both a visual subject and a symbol of rootedness.
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This drawing was created using charcoal pencils on Strathmore 300 series paper, a medium that allows for rich tonal depth and expressive contrast. Working on a 50 by 20-inch scale gave me the space to let the branches stretch across time and space, as if echoing the lives and histories the tree has silently witnessed.​
​By focusing on the tree in its bare state — without leaves, in black and white — I wanted to strip it down to essence. No distractions. Just form, shadow, and gesture. This piece is not only about a tree; it is about patience, age, and the quiet dignity of enduring.
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Through Angel Oak, I hope viewers feel both the stillness and the subtle energy pulsing through the limbs — the kind of quiet power that only nature, and time, can teach us.
