watercolour

At last the Fuchsia microphylla picture

| Gaynor's Flora

Yesterday we spent a super day in London, visiting Kew gardens. We had a lovely time and lunch with a good friend (also a botanical artist) at Kew, before going to have a look at the latest exhibition in the Shirley Sherwood gallery. The pieces that struck me most, were a series of Poppies by Denise Ramsay. If you get the chance to go and see them, please do.

We had been invited to an exhibition at the Herbarium in the early evening. The artist was Gustavo Marigo from Brazil, who had been on the Margaret Mee Fellowship programme. Watch this space, the last piece he worked on right up to the exhibition had so much depth and was quite beautiful.

The weather yesterday was so miserable and wet; we never thought, when we got up that the day would be so interesting.

Today I have been in the shed finishing off the Fuchsia microphylla. I mentioned last time that I had one or two problems because of the intense colours. Like anything else, when one sees a plant up close the colours become very clear and stronger than they might seem from a distance.

I had intended to draw a snippet of the plant actual size, in graphite. However the graphite appeared so subdued against the strong colours.

Fuchsia microphylla in watercolour with graphite section actual size.
Fuchsia microphylla in watercolour with graphite section actual size.

Robin suggested that i change the graphite section to ink to balance the picture. I was very dubious, but traced the section in ink on a sheet of acetate.

 

 

Fuchsia microphylla in watercolour with trial ink section actual size.
Fuchsia microphylla in watercolour with trial ink section actual size.

 

 

 

Doesn’t look too bad does it? So I took the plunge.

Fuchsia microphylla in watercolour with ink section actual size.
Fuchsia microphylla in watercolour with ink section actual size.

Here is the final painting. Try and imagine it without the watermark as it unbalances the actual composition:

Fuchsia microphylla from Chelsea Physic Garden, in watercolour with ink.
Fuchsia microphylla from Chelsea Physic Garden, in watercolour with ink.

Hedgerow produce botanical art workshop in Bosham.

| Gaynor's Flora

Once again a good workshop (I think), with lovely people (I know). There were some struggles on the way and changes of subject once everything was put on the table and the garden checked out. There was even a change of medium too, giving unexpected results.

Here are some of the photos taken during the process and at the end.

The first trials and tribulations in watercolour.
Before a change to coloured pencil.
Resulting in this.

Other results;

Acorn in coloured pencil
Rosa rugosa hip – coloured pencil
Medlar in watercolour
Deodar pine cone in coloure pencil: a really difficult subject well done.
The chef, with a few fluid ingredients at the ready.
The chef, with a few fluid ingredients at the ready.

Happy students

And finally a picture taken last night by one of the students.

The lunar eclipse

The next workshop is pen and ink 30-31 October. Do get in touch if you want to take part.

Botanical art workshops; recent past, present and near future.

| Gaynor's Flora

I am so pleased about what I am seeing developing in my workshops. At the end of August I had the Strawberry and Cream workshop ( really kitchen garden produce) and I published the pictures that were in progress from that workshop. Two of the students have sent in their finished products and although one seems very pale, the colour was actually spot on. Unfortunately the picture was a little unclear, but I think you get a good idea of the end results.

 

Juicy Pear - Coloured pencil
Juicy Pear – Coloured pencil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purple peas from the garden. Watercolour
Purple peas from the garden. Watercolour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the week I had a botanical workshop at Goodnestone Park Gardens. The weather didn’t start off very promising as I drove through the worst rainstorm the night before. It was almost a wonder I got there – but once we’re hooked on botanical art…… But on Thursday morning I was met by a lively group of people all raring to go.

Three of them hadn’t done botanical art before, but liked plants, or wanted to do something a little more detailed. Even I have to admit that I was amazed by the results. I hope that some of them will send me photos of their finished work so that I can post that too – although a couple of the pieces were actually completed.

 

Half of of them used coloured pencil and the other half watercolour. I’m not going to put any titles to the pictures, but just post them. The pictures themselves were Sloes, Magnolia Grandiflora, Tree Peoni, Rose hips. You will see several examples of similar subjects.

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This coming weekend there will be another workshop, so watch this space. I haven’t forgotten about the Fuchsia microphylla and will give you an update in the next few days.

Fuchsia microphylla progress report and BT broadband hassle!

| Gaynor's Flora

I am getting so fed up with BT broadband, phone and TV. I cannot believe that they sell us a service like this and we have to pay as we signed a contract with them. I don’t know how many times the server fell out today, starting whilst responding to emails before 08:00 this morning. The hub seems to be going orange on and off all day and the phone is an old fashioned crackling line; a repeating problem!

Grumble over – until it goes again when I try to send this blog!

I have been concentrating on my Fuchsia microphylla picture (its gone again! – Broadband I mean.) for the last few days. I left you with some composition plans I had for redoing the picture. During the open studio event early August, I decided to change it and that meant starting all over again. The detail I had originally painted was too low on the page, and I felt that in fact the paper colour was a little too creamy. This meant that the pink that I saw in the flower, couldn’t be replicated on the paper I was using. The off-white of Fabriano Artistico extra white, affected the pink, warming it up too much. I therefore needed to paint the picture on Fabriano Classico 5, which I think is about the whitest watercolour paper. I of course tested out the colours before tracing my chosen design on to the paper.

I still intend to keep you in suspense about which composition I chose. Although I have had a lot of people looking at my blog both on WordPress and Facebook, so far no-one has got back to me with suggestions as to which one I did choose!

I am going to show you the various elements in my composition right before putting the picture together.

Fuchsia microphylla side branch - magnified x 2
Fuchsia microphylla side branch – magnified x 2
Fuchsia microphylla longitudinal section of flower, magnified x 4
Fuchsia microphylla longitudinal section of flower, magnified x 4

Notice how two of the stamens hang down and three curl up. This is completely different to the standard Fuchsias you may be familiar with, where the stamens hang quite a long way below the  skirt of the flower. There are a total of eight stamens attached round the base of the sepals before they split up into four sections; looking like an outer whorl of petals. There is one style with four stigma. Therefore it is very appropriate that there are four ovaries in the fruit.

Fuchsia microphylla cross-section of fruit. Magnified x 3
Fuchsia microphylla cross-section of fruit. Magnified x 3
Fuchsia microphylla longitudinal section of fruit, magnified x 3
Fuchsia microphylla longitudinal section of fruit, magnified x 3

Funnily enough, although quite small – just under 1 cm when ripe, the fruit really stain.

When the plant is seen close to, the colours are so intense, which is very obvious in the final picture – causing additional compositional problems! Watch this space.

Fuchsia microphylla progress; and composition.

| Gaynor's Flora

The last time that I mentioned anything about this botanical art piece in progress, was August 3, during my Open Studio event in Bosham. You saw the start of the picture and I will reintroduce it here.

Fuchsia microphylla painting started
Fuchsia microphylla painting started

I got as far as this:

Fuchsia Microphylla botanical art progression - change point!
Fuchsia Microphylla botanical art progression – change point!

When, with the help of a very good friend who is a brilliant mentor, I decided I needed to change the composition. As he said, I hadn’t put enough thought and work into the composition before I had started and therefore I was likely to come a cropper. I agreed with with him.

Following this discussion, I decided to prepare all my dissections and other parts to be introduced into the composition, in detail. Until this time, I had only prepared the main part in detail and put a rough sketch where I was going to have the other sections; this included a ‘line’ that represented a branch! Therefore I had to get down to the hard work that I needed to do; my detailed line drawings ready to trace over.

The microscope then came into function and this helped me change my mind completely about the sort of dissections I needed for the picture. Here is what I saw:

Fuchsia micrphylla stamens
Fuchsia micrphylla stamens

The flower has eight stamens. Four are tucked up and four hang down, with the hanging down ones ripening first. Had I done a typical dissection showing a separate stamen and separate style and stigma, no-one would have realised how it was all placed in the funnel formed by the semi-fused sepals. The solution to this problem was to do one longitudinal dissection of the flower, showing the stamens, style and stigma in situ. All I have to do is the drawing and painting show that it shows clearly!

We are still back at problem number one; composition. How are the elements to be placed and what size will they be. If you remember the plant has tiny leaves and flowers. The main section is painted at twice the normal size, although I will include a graphite line drawing actual size. But how big do the dissected flower and fruit have to be to be seen clearly?

I completed all my line drawings, traced them onto tracing paper in the manner I have previously written about in this blog, and I cut each traced element to arrange around the paper. These are all the compositional trials I made. Which one do you think I chose?

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As a final for this blog, I still have a couple of places left for the next workshop in Bosham; Hedgerow produce, 25 – 27 September. If you are interested have a look at the the page on this website, Tuition –> Workshops. You will be very welcome.

Fruit & Vegetable workshop + gluttons for botanical art workshop (punishment).

| Gaynor's Flora

Yes, gluttons for punishment! On Tuesday and Wednesday I was teaching the Gloucestershire society of Botanical illustration. Two from that group took the long trip to Bosham for the Fruit & Veg botanical art workshop, when they had already been on the pen & ink one at the beginning of the week. They assured me that it was really Robin’s cooking they came for. I have to say, his lunches are getting really good.

Anyway, once again I am told that the students who attended the workshop over the last couple of days, had a good time and learnt a lot. The group included a couple who hadn’t done any botanical art before and a couple who wanted to learn to use either coloured pencil or watercolour, when they had used the opposite very successfully for many years. They did well, although I know from experience it can be a struggle converting one to the other. It will be interesting to see if they try the new medium again. I hope so, as it is useful to be able to ‘master’ more than just the one medium. Although, I don’t think anyone can claim to ‘master’ any of them. It would be useful to hear if anyone thinks this possible?

We had incredible weather over the two days, so there were some frequent trips to the kitchen garden.

The first picture only includes a few of the students. I’m afraid I forgot to take these until the other tables had already packed up.
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Now the gallery of pictures. Make sure that you have a reasonably good Internet connection. Unfortunately, it seems that when out and about, some of the connections limit what you can pick up and sometimes one is unable to see the pictures until you have a full broadband.

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Summer Open Studio – Botanical art

| Gaynor's Flora

Its that time of year again. Children are on holiday and the waterways (as well as motorways) are bustling. The sun is shining and the bees are buzzing, making sure we get the produce from our kitchen gardens and seeds for next year.

From my shed (studio), I can hear happy sailors in the creek, as well as curlews as they land. There seem also to be a lot of children and teenagers learning the ropes out on the water. But I am happy painting away with the sun pouring in through the open door and the cats curled up asleep as company; oblivious to anything.

Do come and experience my little haven during the next couple of weekends. You will be most welcome.

2015 Summer Open Studios flyer

One of the pieces I will be working on is my latest challenge. Fuchsia microphylla. Microphylla means small leaves. Everyone knows more or less what a Fuchsia looks like as for some it seems to be a challenge to find as many different sorts as possibly – whether hardy in the UK climate, or not. This plant is hardy but intriguing. The flowers are tiny, as are the leaves, but the fruit is also quite small although seeming to get somewhat larger than the flower.

Fuchsia microphylla
Fuchsia microphylla
Fuchsia microphylla flowers
Fuchsia microphylla flowers

I have started to paint a picture in watercolour. The composition is the real challenge and how I am going to express this on paper, with dissections. Come and see how I intend to try and solve the problems. Comments and suggestions will be most welcome.

Fuchsia microphylla painting started
Fuchsia microphylla painting started

My husband commented today that he didn’t realise that the colours in the plant were so vibrant. I had done a tad more on the painting by the time he made this comment. But it is like all things botanical, once you get down to the detail – even in grasses – the colours are amazing.

 

Fuchsia microphylla setup in my shed (studio). Plant, magnifying glasses galore, easel, chair, paints, brushes and water.
Fuchsia microphylla setup in my shed (studio). Plant, magnifying glasses galore, easel, chair, paints, brushes and water.

Robin will be ably manning the gallery and I look forward to you joining me down in the shed.

The Roses Botanical art workshop

| Gaynor's Flora

Wasn’t the weather horrid on Friday and Sunday – non-stop rain. But we still had a very good workshop; or at least that is what it have been told by those taking part.

Roses are scary subjects. Or at least people think they are. Normally we have loads of roses in the garden even though June is normally the main time for them. But following that very warm and dry spell whilst we were away in Norway, it seems that this year it really took its toll. Still we did have some simple roses and some a little more complicated. One that really caused a headache was a stunningly beautiful one ‘Deep Secret’. It’s perfume is very heady and it is a luscious deep, deep red. Although it was a full rose, it was the difficulty in matching the colour.

Reds can be difficult at the best of times, but as this rose unfolded, the different hues that emerged was incredible. One minute you think you have got it and the next it’s changed! But that is botanical art for you. I think at some point I will have to try it myself, rather than rely on students to struggle with the colour. But my projects are another matter.

Interestingly enough, one of the students arrived having never painted before and wanted to have a go. She started with watercolour, but as there was a mixture of watercolour and coloured pencil artists there, she got to see the effects of Both. On the second day, the student wanted to try CP and eventually got hooked by that medium.

But I expect it’s the pictures you want to see.

The Roses botanical art workshop
The Roses botanical art workshop

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The next workshop is 21-22 August, Fruit & Veg: Strawberries & Cream workshop. We paint the fruit and veg and eat the strawberries and cream! There are a couple of places left, so obviously first come; first served. Get in touch.

Sad to say goodbye – botanical art holiday in Norway 2015

| Gaynor's Flora

2015’s botanical art course in Norway came to an end on Sunday after breakfast, although our last supper was when we sadly said our goodbyes.

The week had been just right. Lovely students, good food and perfect weather. We had long bright, sunny and warm days. The nights were just a little too bright and sunny for some, but I think that most quickly got used to this. The temperature was just perfect, a mid twenty. We were also hugely lucky in that it meant we could do what we wanted, when we wanted, without having to worry about the weather.

I’m writing this on my iPad aided by my daughter’s cat. It’s funny but it seems that Norwegian cats have the same instinct as British ones – to sit on what you are trying to do! They must have the correct amount of attention.

Åsgårdstrand Hotel, which is just 15 minutes north of where I am now – Tønsberg, also on the Banks of the Oslo Fjord- did us proud this year too. We had a lovely room with a view overlooking the fjord, so that we had a first class view of the activity on the water. Sailing boats coming and going and even the big ferries taking their travellers to local and foreign destinations. I’m afraid that there is one sad point though – we didn’t do the refreshment breaks justice! Healthy and unhealthy snacks, the choice was ours. The trouble was that when we were working – we were working.

However, although everyone was there to learn and practice their botanical art, they were also there to have a holiday and relax. I think there was success In that too.

I had managed to get a variety of plants from up in the mountains and also from garden centres. However, I think that everyone was really impressed with the variety of wild flowers everywhere. They are fantastic.

This is some of the work done:

 

 

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Our last meal together was a huge success thanks to Elizabeth, one of the students, and the hotel. We met in our glad rags in the separate room which Elizabeth had organised for us, and we were really well behaved for five minutes.

Before - We had to close the curtains because of the bright light shining in from the sailing boat harbour.
Before – We had to close the curtains because of the bright light shining in from the sailing boat harbour.

Served beautifully by Victoria

Served beautifully by Victora
Served beautifully by Victora

The enjoyment was immense!

After
After

Thank you to everyone and roll on next year.