Trillium ovatum, SBA Assignment 2

April 18, 2011 by · 10 Comments

The crisp white blossoms of Trillium seem to promise brighter days to come as they bloom under the dark canopy of Douglas Firs in the forest. Our spring weather here in the Pacific Northwest is usually overcast, and the white blossoms seem to sparkle on the dark forest floor.

This is a graphite drawing I did for my second assignment in the Society of Botanical Art course I am taking. I found it challenging to depict the white flowers against the white paper, since the flowers are held high above the foliage so don’t have a dark background, except when they are developing.  I included various stages of development.  First the flower emerges all wrapped up like an elegant gift, then the leaves slowly unfold as the flower opens up.
I am attempting to focus on plants native to the Pacific Northwest as I make my way through the course.

Some shading exercises were also part of the assignment.

Addendum: Tutor’s Comments & My Reflections:
My tutor liked my choice of subject and that I showed the plant in different stages of development.  She thought the white flowers had just enough shading, although she cautioned me not to make the outlines too dark and to match the shadings at the margins.  She thought they were well observed, particularly the centers.  She thought the leaves showed movement and flow and in general were shaded well.  The underside of one of the leaves needed a bit more shading, and she thought perhaps some of the veins were drawn too prominently (she was right, of course).  The stems only wavered slightly in a couple of places, which was a huge improvement for my lily drawing in assignment one!  They needed a little more light shading as well.  The top left leaf appeared a bit stiff compared to the other ones.  She noted that I carefully and neatly completed the stem ends.  She thought this assignment showed a definite progression from the previous one.
My shading exercises were acceptable.
My score on this assignment was quite an improvement from the last one but still not where I wanted to be.  Looking back, improving my drawing skills and working in monochrome before I moved on to color was invaluable.  My tutor had obviously studied my submitted work carefully and all of her suggestions benefited me later.
Filed Under: Graphite Drawings, Native Plants, SBA Course, SBA DLDC Assignment Tagged With: , , , , ,

Comments

  1. Vicki Lee Johnston says
    April 19, 2011 at 2:16 am

    Congratulations Janene on a lovely assignment piece. Beautiful composition and flow, very elegant.

    Reply
  2. Janene says
    April 19, 2011 at 2:33 am

    Vicky, Thanks for your encouraging comment! I feel dissatisfied with the drawing in several ways, but I learned a lot in the process so there is hope for improvement!

    Reply
  3. debra morris says
    April 19, 2011 at 3:46 am

    Janene, this is beautiful, you should be proud of it

    Reply
  4. Sue Pownall says
    April 19, 2011 at 1:42 pm

    Seems very successful to me.

    I like the new banner.

    Reply
  5. Claire says
    April 19, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    Its stunning(saw on Flickr too!);I’m sure you’ll get a really good mark for this assignment too xx

    Reply
  6. evensketchier says
    April 20, 2011 at 4:55 am

    this botanical illustration is most impressive!

    Reply
  7. Janene says
    April 21, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    Debra, Sue, Claire, and evensketchier, Thank you for visiting my blog and for taking the time to comment. I appreciate your kind words.

    Reply
  8. scratchyas says
    April 26, 2011 at 3:05 am

    Hi Janene,

    Thanks for your comment on my Urban Sketchers Sydney page. Really like your Botanical illustrations and your comments on all your assignments. I’ve always wanted to do a botanic illustration course but dont have the time, your posts will be very insightful for me.

    Cheers,
    Meegan

    Reply
  9. whatidoisme says
    May 1, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    Beautiful work, and I hope to see more of your course assignments.

    Sue

    Reply
  10. Vicky says
    May 4, 2011 at 1:16 am

    This is stunning! It’s so graceful and I love all the different tones you have.

    Reply

I would love to hear from you...

*