The art
David Bayo

A Sumaúma tree in the Amazon rainforest, a person standing at its buttress roots
The tree itself — a Sumaúma, Amazon rainforest

The Tree

The label's mark is a Sumaúma, native to the Amazon rainforest, drawn by David Bayo. Roughly 300,000 dots of ink, set down one at a time. These photographs follow it from the first line to the finished tree.

Tree
Sumaúma — Amazon rainforest
Artist
David Bayo
Technique
Stippling — ink on paper
Dots
About 300,000
Pencil under-drawing of the tree
01 — Pencil
First ink dots over the pencil
02 — First ink
Shading built up in passes
03 — Shading in passes
The canopy filling in
04 — The canopy fills
The roots flowing into water
05 — The roots turn to water
Setting dots with a fine pen
06 — One dot at a time
Detail of the roots Detail of the canopy arch Detail of the crown

07 — Up close, it is only dots

The finished tree
08 — The finished tree

The finished tree hangs over everything the label makes — every record, every gram of leaf.

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