Dendrophobia
When
i was young ( about 4 - 5'ish ), my father would take me to the park
& tease me that all the trees near by had monsters behind them &
some would even come alive to take me away. Since then till maybe when i was
around 16 - 17, i would get anxiety attacks if I'd went near a weird
looking tree, especially if it was a massive one! Yes, I'm one of those
weird people who had, at one time, a fear of trees & the forest. I
decided to do some research to find out if this was a normal phobia and
unfortunately ( from an artist perspective ) it was!
But
some people wonder why would anyone have this fear in the first place. Trees
tend to rot on the inside thus some they might actually be diseased
& ready to fall unexpectedly. Also, plenty of trees often have
abstract shapes which some can appear sinister looking & unearthly.
Predators of the forest use trees as camouflage when stocking prey. This
can trigger major feelings of anxiety to those with the phobia.
I
thought it would be interesting to dig into one of my deepest fears to
see how my artistic skills can be tested. Below are some samples
sketches. Portraying fear of something complex but simple in artistic
form is never an easy task. But then again, fear is never an easy task
to face.