Trees with Character, from Root to Crown

Read the tree before you draw it

A tree is a record of how it grew. The trunk tapers as it rises. Branches split into smaller branches in a pattern that repeats. Roots spread to hold the tree against wind and to find water. Bark cracks as the trunk widens. When a painted or modeled tree looks wrong, it is usually because one of these rules is broken. Good reference lets you check the structure, not only the outline.

For 3D vegetation artists, the license lets you build your own tree models, bark textures and photogrammetry meshes from these photos for your projects. For flat surface packs, see photo textures for 3D.

A strangler fig in 3 stages

A strangler fig starts on a host tree, sends roots down around it and slowly takes its place. AustraliaRef photographed this process at 3 stages in Queensland, all at 6000 × 4000:

• Young. Giant Parasite Plant Consuming Another Tree: 119 photos of a fig perhaps 50 to 80 years old, still wrapped around the host tree as it rots away.
• Established. Giant Fig Tree: 85 photos of a large, mature fig.
• Ancient. Cathedral Tropical Giant Fig Tree: 386 photos of a fig several hundred years old, so large it has become a home for insects, small animals and bats.

Together they show the life cycle of a very unusual tree, and they make good concept reference for creature-like plants.

Trees that spread sideways

• Sprawling Banyan Tree Colony: 156 photos in Thailand of a banyan that has grown for more than a thousand years into a park of its own. Concrete pillars now guide its spreading branches, which twist into strange shapes.
• Sprawling Entangled Pohutukawa Tree: 75 photos of a multi-trunk New Zealand tree that reaches 21 metres across. It is described as the largest of its kind. Close-ups of branches, bark and leaves are included.

Ancient giants

The Giant Kauri Trees Forest pack (134 photos and 2 short videos) was shot in Waipoua Forest, home to the two largest kauri trees in the world. Most kauri forest was cut down by 19th-century settlers, so this is rare reference of an intact ancient forest. Kauri bark has a distinctive pattern that changes with the age of the tree, and the pack includes close-ups of bark and roots. For redwoods and sequoias, see forest reference photos.

Trees with a story

• Coconut Palm Tree: 156 photos on Niue of coconut palms at every stage, from seedlings to tall trees and groves, plus ripening, cracked and decaying coconuts.
• Eucalyptus Tree Black Termite Mounds: 174 photos of black termite mounds built on tree trunks on a dry floodplain in Queensland. They look alien, and they are real.
• Foggy Trees: 44 photos of dead trees in fog, at 7360 × 4912, for quiet and atmospheric scenes.
• Bonsai Trees: 87 photos from a bonsai exhibition in Putrajaya, Malaysia. Bonsai show tree structure in miniature, which is useful for stylized art.
• Giant Tree Garden Structures: 255 photos of the artificial "supertrees" at Marina Bay in Singapore, for science fiction worlds.

Frequently asked questions

Which packs are best for bark textures?

The kauri pack has close-ups of bark at different ages. The Red Woods Rotorua and Ancient Giant Sequoia Forest packs on our forest page cover redwood bark and roots. Most tree packs here are 6000 × 4000, which gives enough detail for close texture work.

Do you have trees in winter or frost?

Yes. Frosty Trees has 327 photos of trees covered in a thin layer of frost in Finland. For snow-covered landscapes, see snow and ice reference.

Is there a pack that shows cut or broken trees?

Yes. Cut Down and Broken Off Trees has 130 photos of stumps and windbreaks in Ukraine. It is useful for logging camps, storm damage and forest floor detail.