In October 1955, Nicholson visited Italy ‘going from Florence slowly down through Tuscany & Umbria and Rome’. For him this was the ‘the most intense & exciting (landscape) experience’, and as he explained to Winifred his trip was ‘packed tight’, with him completing seventeen drawings in the two weeks he was there. His treatment of trees at this time is highly distinctive, and 1955 (trees, Tuscany) is a typical example, transforming the central tree into a vibrant character in an otherwise undefined landscape setting. Just four or five lines, gently rippling to suggest the lie of the ground, evoke the horizon in contrast to the vertical emphasis of the central subject. The paper which Nicholson used for his drawings was always prepared in the studio before making a trip. He washed individual pieces with areas of watercolour, without any regard for what might later be depicted on the sheet. A great many sheets, washed in different ways and in different colours, were then carried around in a satchel. Once a subject or a view was decided upon, Nicholson cast about in the satchel to find a piece of paper that suited the immediate needs of his drawing. This well-practised method ensured a certain richness of quality and often resulted in unexpected, enlivening contrasts between the subtle watercolour wash and the line drawing which followed it.