Botanical Drawing

Day 236: After many attempts which I wouldn't even show to my cat, I think I am gaining some skill in botanical drawing. I am finding that using graphite pencils allows me to include more detail, and although the temptation to add colour is strong, I am unsure how to effect it in a manner which will preserve the clarity of a plant's intricate morphology, i.e., those features which allow a botanist to separate one species from another. I chose Geranium robertianum...pesky, invasive Stinky Bob...for my subject because it was readily available and because I wanted something fairly easy for my first serious rendering. The leaves began to wilt even before I'd set the vase on the table beside me, and not long after, the blossom began to droop. Although I captured the flower in one go, the leaves had to be replenished before I could continue. Botanical drawing is very time-consuming, and I was not bothering with measurements for this first study. Perhaps I will map out future illustrations with scientific accuracy; for now, I was content to just get it on paper, hairy stems and all.

Botanical Art

Day 10: I'm not kidding myself. I know that I don't have an artistic bone in my body. I couldn't draw a square square if you paid me, and to try to get the proportions and perspective right on something as simple as an egg is as far beyond my skill as trying to recreate the work of one of the Old Masters. However, I do think I have a good eye for colour, which is probably the product of years of doing needlework. I never need to carry a fabric sample to the store to match thread. I simply commit it to memory before I go shopping. Lack of artistic talent aside, I have long desired to be able to do botanical illustrations in some medium or another, so when a friend began taking watercolour classes, I thought I'd give it a try. I bought a cheapo kit: several brushes, some paints in tubes and some in "tablet" form. The tubes struck me as likely to waste a lot of paint, so I haven't cracked them yet, but I seem to be doing okay with the hard sort. After my first few attempts turned out rather too light (the vine maple, for example), Patty advised me to allow the paint to dry and then add a second layer to make the colour stronger. While I don't think I'm there yet, I'm not unhappy with the results either. That said, I have to admit to a certain cheat: I know I can't draw, so I traced around real leaves and then laid in the colour. Hey, at least I stay within the lines.