The post Dec 2nd: Left Bank Books on Bambi Edlund's excellent blog le pen quotidien features a tree & limb technique that I really like. I like how, at the bend (or redirection) of each tree limb, Edlund draws a little "node" or tiny branchling (is that a word?). In my opinion, these nodes/branchlings really create the illusion of a real tree.
I tried making several sketches of tree limbs similar to the tree in the Edlund's illustration shown at left; some small "quickie" sketches that I did to test the technique appear below:
