365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
A New Challenge
Day 231: Birds are one thing. Botanical art is another, and although I want to be as accurate in my representations as possible in both subjects, plants are infinitely more difficult to portray. Petals/tepals and stamens must be counted, leaf form must be scrupulously observed. Does the leaf clasp the stem? Is it serrated? Notched? Are the stems glabrous or pubescent? Colour and shading are the least of your worries when you're trying to draw a plant with scientific accuracy. Maybe that's why so much botanical art is done in pencil or pen. In fact, I have been hesitant to add colour for fear of losing important detail, but at this point, my detailing skills are marginal, so I'm hiding my sins beneath a wash of pigment. For now, I am content to show the plant in its proper genus; species is going to take a lot more work. (Clockwise from the left: Paeonia, Lamprocapnos, Rhipsalidopsis, Centaurea).
Labels:
botanical art,
Centaurea,
Lamprocapnos,
Paeonia,
Rhipsalidopsis,
sketching
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