Trees in winter

“In handbooks on Chinese traditional painting, an advice commonly given to the artist who wishes to learn to paint trees is to sketch them in winter, for then, without the seductive yet confused and blurry effect of their leafy masses, through their stark nudity they can best reveal their inner structure and specific character,” says Simon Leys, in Chinese Shadows.

To explore this idea further, I photographed one tree through the seasons (what3words: ///random.clear.look):