Rice-grain Fritillary, SBA Assignment 9

Rice-grain Fritillary (Fritillaria affinis)

Fritillaria affinis grows in open woods, meadows and on bluffs here in the Pacific Northwest. I think their nodding bells are quite charming, especially combined with the whorled leaves that make them look like they are going to start twirling around at any minute.

This is Assignment 9 in the SBA course I am taking, and the first one including dissection.  Here is a key to the dissections:

1. Half-flower, with 3 petals and 3 stamen removed
2. Petal with stamen
3. Pistil and ovary
4. Bulb, bulblets and roots
5. Diagonal cross-section of the seed capsule

All of the dissections are in graphite, and the plant itself is watercolor on 140 lb. Fabriano Classico paper.  I limited myself to three pigments only for this painting, as I have for the last three assignments.  On this one I used Winsor Blue (green shade), Cadmium Yellow Deep and Quin. Magenta, and mixed all of my colors from these three.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with my old friend, graphite again–much more within my comfort zone than my new acquaintance, watercolor!  I am realizing that working with watercolors is a science as well as an art.  Each of the many pigments has different qualities, like how fast it travels on the paper, whether it is transparent or opaque, staining or non-staining and more. And then there is the hydraulics of how water behaves on the paper depending on to how much has been applied and absorbed, how much is on the brush, and how the applied moisture interacts with what is already on the paper.  Then lets move on to color mixing, and color theory, then different types of paper..I have a lot to learn before watercolor is more than an acquaintance to me!  I am slowly gaining a sense of familiarity as I work through the course though.

I find myself going to the Handprint website whenever I need more info about a pigment which is new to me, or even as a refresher on the ones I use often.  It is an amazing treasure trove of watercolor information.  The information on the material attributes of paints is one of the most helpful things I have read regarding watercolors.

Addendum: Tutor’s Comments & My Reflections:

I enjoyed painting this beauty very much.  Everything aligned for me on this assignment–I found some beautiful potted specimens of this unusual bulb at my local nursery.  They were in bud at different stages so I had time to plan my composition, match the colors, and start painting before they were finished blooming.  And best of all this is a native plant in my region!

My tutor loved my submission.  I was pinching myself because my marks were nearly perfect on this assignment!