It’s nice to paint something that will sit still for a change. I didn’t know how much flowers and leaves move around until I started on my first botanical drawings. I would draw as accurately as I could for awhile, then take a short break and lo and behold, when I came back my drawing didn’t seem to match the plant anymore. I would erase and start over because I thought I just wasn’t observing closely enough. After a fair amount of erasing, it dawned on me that my eyes were not playing tricks on me…the plant was moving! Leaves are constantly adjusting to get maximum light and the flowers are in continual motion too, opening, closing, fading, growing. I had to choose a pose and stick with it or I would never make any progress!
Of course I never draw exactly what I see anyway–my goal is to depict the plant in a way that is botanically accurate but also pleasing to the eye. I add or subtract leaves and twigs, adjust the direction of a branch, face the flower in different ways. My goal is to create a composition with a sense of movement, in other words that will subtly direct the eye around the painting.
Pseudotsuga menziesii
I also love to tell a story in my paintings. As I worked on my cone painting, I became dissatisfied because it seemed a bit too static…it was a pine cone sitting in the middle of the page…blah. I wasn’t sure what to do about it until a lovely little seed came fluttering down from the cone as I painted. It reminded me of a little brown bird! I examined one of the many cones that I had collected on my walks and discovered that there are two seeds snugly tucked under each scale. I carefully pried some out and laid them across my desk. I soon discovered that the slightest movement of air sent them fluttering to the floor, and picking them up was not easy because the wing part shatters with the slightest touch.
I had a little extra space on my piece of vellum so I cropped it so the cone was in the the upper left corner of the painting and added some seeds fluttering down and perched on the ‘ground’ at the bottom. Just what I needed to add some movement and story-telling to my painting!
I sent this off to the UK today along with 5 other paintings in hopes that they will be accepted for the SBA exhibition in May. The SBA won’t do the selection until March so until then I’ll be holding my breath…or maybe I’d better not!
This blog is about my journey as a botanical artist--what I am learning, what inspires me and what I am currently drawing or painting. My desire is to continually hone my skills to better express my wonder and gratitude for the beauty of the creation around me in the Pacific Northwest (USA).
Beautiful artwork Janene, especially being so new with vellum – it’s excellent.
I am sure you will have no problems being selected as your work is always lovely.
Now you can relax!
Thanks for your encouragement, Vicki. I hope at least some of them get accepted, but all 6 would be fabulous. Are you sending any?
Wonderful work and story! As a child, I loved to pull apart GA pinecones to find the fluttering seeds…guess I helped ‘plant’ many pine trees, or maybe just made it easier for the squirrels to find lunch!
I have sporadically followed your journey through the certification process, though rarely commented. Just signed up to follow your blog, so will try to do better with expressing my pleasure at your beautiful botanicals!
Thanks for your interest and support, Debo. I remember you from all of your nice comments on Flickr, btw I’ve followed you on Flickr for quite awhile too. It’s hard to keep up with the commenting on all of the sites now so I completely understand if you can’t always take time to comment–I don’t either! But anyway, thanks for stopping by and checking in!
Well done, Janene! This is beautifully painted and the seeds add just the right amount of movement and interest to the composition. I’m sure that you will have your work accepted by the SBA, but best of luck anyway.
So lovely Janene, as is all your work. To me (a rank amateur), one of the signs of a great composition is that you can’t imagine it any other way – and so it is with this piece: who could imagine it without the seeds providing just the right amount of balance, movement (and added botanical interest!) on the page. Best of luck with the SBA.
Janene, this is beautiful. I love all the movement in the cone, with the zigzagging scales and he wispy parts that lead the eye down to the fluttering seeds.
You are certainly seeing a lot with your botanical work. I’ve never watched a plant closely enough to see the change in position–with the exception of the time when we had a small earthquake and I didn’t feel it, but saw the leaves on a potted plant move.
I can certainly imagine your work in a fine botanical book. You have my best wishes for acceptance by the SBA.
It’s lovely!
Best of luck, Janene – I am sure you will have no trouble in being accepted.
I love this! Good luck with your entries. Your work is beautiful. I never thought to paint onto vellum!
Hi Ingrid, Thanks for letting me know that this post was helpful to you and that you like my work!
Thanks, Ingrid. Actually, vellum is pretty fun to paint on once you get used to it–you should try it!