Yan Lee

I gather these famous and historic trees of America here. They would talk, talk to you.

The famous and historic trees symbolize longevity, loyalty, peace, and survival. My mission is to paint/draw as many of these important trees as I can to preserve their image and beauty for all time. When I paint/draw and enjoy theses trees I am revived and learn patience, perseverance, and organization from them.

I became enamored with “The Century Tree” on the Texas A&M University campus that has shaded tens of thousands of Aggies since 1898, where I attained a doctoral degree. I vowed to draw it for posterity. This experience was so personally overwhelming that I resolved to search out and immortalize the big trees in America. There are many big trees in America that are of historical significance. Each tree is unique and has its own story and personality. I think of them as individuals. I do attempt to express the personality, emotion, and feeling of the tress instead of myself.

I am a self-taught artist. The trees are my teachers. The composition of these trees is so perfect that it is not necessary to add or remove anything. But it has always been a big challenge for all artists, including photographers, to put an entire tree on any medium due to the giant size and distracting surroundings. One of the challenges is close-up an entire tree. In order to bring these huge creations from the field into my studio I use both traditional painting/drawing skills and modern techniques in mainly three steps:

– I perform research on the trees: I get to know their stories, and make sketch and art notes, as well as take digital photos.
– I use the “Zig Memory System” marker pen, the finest pen found in market, with acid free, fade-proof pigment ink, and drawing paper. I use the marker as a Chinese brush to paint/draw each individual stroke that lets me capture even the tiniest elements, including the bark and the leaves. Each square inch of the drawing takes about one hour to draw. When the portrait is completed, the trees appear living, exquisite, and unique and will remain so for all time. When I stare at my trees I really feel the sunlight is penetrating the trees and the wind is blowing the branches and twigs. O! If only I could give them a big hug!
– From my original drawing, I make Giclee prints on an Epson 4000 printer using Epson Ultra Chrome pigment inks and Epson fine art paper. The print life should now exceed 100 years. As each print is created individually or replicated in very a small numbers, each one may differ slightly from the other. Each limited-edition print is signed.

In sum, my artwork comes to completion through a process of photo-draw-print process. Hence, I have coined the term photo-draw-graphy.

My first goal is to immortalize some 50 of them in Texas. Portraits of 29 historic and famous trees have already been completed.

I can be reached at Big Tree Studio,

9110 Memorial Trail Drive, Spring, TX 77379. E-mail address is [email protected]. Telephone is (281)251-9453. For more information please visit my website: www.bigtreestudio.com.

List of My Trees:

The Century Oak, The Rio Frio Landmark Oak, The Alamo Live Oak, The Columbus Oak, The Old Court Oak, The Cart War Oak, The Goose Island Oak, The Treaty Oak, The Hallettsville Oak, The Muster Oak, The Bloys Symbolic Oak, The Deaf Smith Oak, The Burnt Oak, The Commissioner’s Court Oak, The Panna Maria Oak, The Ranger Oak, The Hallettsville hanging Oak, The Seiders Oak, The Fleming Oak, The North Church Oak, Runaway Scrape Oak, Kyle Auction Oak, The Austin auction Oak, The Old Green Oak, The Angel Oak, Cathedral Oak, The Traders Oak, The Turner Oak and The Robinson Oak.