George Elbert Burr, born Monroe Falls, - Motive for Etching - 1918 - T-Shirt

This pen and ink drawing shows a leafless tree standing in an open field, its dark branches spreading across the upper half of the sheet.

Visual Elements & Composition

Off-white paper fills most of the sheet, with black ink and pencil grey carrying the image. The trunk splits low into several main limbs that fork into a dense network of fine branches, drawn with bold strokes that thicken near the trunk and taper to thin twigs. Below, a row of low, dark stumps and tall grass tufts sits across the field, with a few pale sprigs between them. Faint horizontal strokes indicate the ground and fade toward a distant line. The artist's signature appears in the lower left and a small monogram in the lower right.

Meaning & Symbolism

The title marks this sheet as a motive for etching, a study made as a design source for a printed plate rather than a finished picture. The contrast between the dense, dark linework of the tree and the open, light ground is the balance that carries into the tonal range of a print. George Elbert Burr, born in Monroe Falls, Ohio, in 1859, drew this sheet in 1918, and the work reflects his command of crisp pen and ink line applied to natural forms. The bare tree and spare field give a quiet, wintry character to an ordinary rural scene. The drawing is held in the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A tall, vertical tree suits the front of a tee, with the trunk running down the centre of the chest and the branches opening outward toward the shoulders. The field of stumps and grass settles along the lower body, so the whole scene reads as one landscape when you wear it. The open paper around the tree keeps the composition uncluttered, letting the dark branches stand out against the shirt.