Botanical illustration

Yesterday I attended a workshop in botanical illustration at the Harcourt Arboretum (part of Oxford University's Botanical Garden) run by Valerie Price, an artist trained in scientific illustration who has done work for, among others, Kew Gardens. Although you might not guess it from the very loose paintings I've posted here recently, I've always been fascinated by this type of detailed, highly accurate drawing and painting. I very much enjoy doing this style of work, even though I'm nowhere near being capable of the incredible detail the real experts can achieve. It seems to be unusual for people to enjoy producing both very loose and very detailed work; I suppose it doesn't really make sense to try to work in different styles, but after all I'm only doing it for fun, not to make a living!

My experience of taking classes in watercolour is that teachers invariably want you to work larger, wetter and looser, so it was a refreshing change to take a class with someone that thought my number 6 brush (the second smallest I own!) was "rather long", who stresses careful preliminary drawing involving painstaking measurement, and for whom A4 is as large format as it gets! I wouldn't want to work like this all the time, but I really enjoyed the day.

This was the result of my day's work...a single flower! But I'm quite pleased with it; I think it has a good feeling of transparency. It's mainly done using W&N opera rose on Fabriano Artistico cold pressed paper. Oh, and the flower is a lavertera.

technorati tags: watercolour, lavertera, botanical+illustration, harcourt+arboretum, botanical+gardens, Valerie+Price

And another one...

Yes, it's another rose! I think tomorrow I'll have to try something different. Like a yellow rose, perhaps. :) Again, this is on a 1/4 imperial sheet of Bockingford NOT.

Roses

It's hard to resist painting roses at the moment, as thy are everywhere! So, here's another version. This style is largely inspired by the work of Jean Haines. Anyone interested in her work would also do well to check out the internet forum that she's recently set up (and which I've mentioned before), the Watercolour Haven. This is on a 1/4 sheet of 300gsm Bockingford NOT paper (as was the previous post).

technorati tags: watercolour, roses, winsor+and+newton, bockingford

Nigella

I've not been able to post much so far this month, thanks to pressure of real life (boo!). But I hope to put that right with a flurry of posts over the next few days! Here is a watercolour of a Nigella, a lovely blue flower with delicate leaves and attractive seedpods. I'm trying to work in a very loose style. This was done in five minutes or so.

technorati tags: watercolour, nigella

Tree study (again!)

I had the chance to go out and draw for a hour or so this evening as the sun was going down, and what better way to spend the time than draw one of my favourite subjects: a tree. I call it a "study" because that sounds like the sort of thing that proper artists do, but really, I just like drawing trees! I had to rush a bit at the end as it was getting dark, but it was a lovely evening to be out drawing.

technorati tags: drawing, graphite, trees

Girl feeding birds, study

I'm planning a painting of a young girl feeding pigeons. This is a quick study of the girl. I don't have a lot of time to do much art at the moment as I'm buried under a big pile of exams that I've got to mark! I know what I'd rather be doing, but I should be finished with the marking this weekend. I've still got that portrait to finish too!

technorati tags: watercolour, study, pigeons

Roses

Summer has returned to Oxford this weekend, thank goodness. And with all the rain, we've been having, when the sun comes out everything in the garden grows like mad. All our roses are out, pink, white, yellow, orange; patio, bush, climber. I never feel as though any attempt I've made to paint or draw roses have really worked. This year I'm having another go, using a very loose, watercolour style. Still not really right, but I think this approach could work if I keep at it.

technorati tags: watercolour, rose

EDM #8 and EDM #78

EDM challenge 8 was to draw a watch. I've got a few watches; this one I bought on my recent trip to Switzerland. It didn't seem right to come back from Switzerland without a new watch! I really like it, though it can be a bit difficult to read because the hands are silvery metal that don't always show up very well against the pale face. It's done with my .25mm rapidograph.


Challenge 78 is related in that it is to draw something that is a souvenir of somewhere you've been. In 2005 we were lucky enough to spend a summer in California and, during that time, make a trip to Hawaii. We've been to California quite a few times -- in fact Liz and I lived there for a year before Sarah was born -- but this was our first time in Hawaii. This is a Kukui Nut Lei; we all got one at the hotel we stayed at on Maui. It was a wonderful trip. The only downside is that Sarah now wants to spend every holiday there!

technorati tags: pen+and+ink, EDM, watch, lei, Maui

Watercolour portrait, WIP

I've decided to do a watercolour based on the graphite portrait of Liz that I've been showing here. This is a new challenge for me; I've never tried painting a portrait before, so it's a bit scary. In fact, I didn't even have much idea how to mix a good skin tone; in the end I found the yellow ochre a alizarin crimson are commonly used, so that's what I've tried, with the addition of cobalt blue for shadows. This is just a first wash, there's a lot more to do.

technorati tags: watercolour, portraits, Liz, WIP

Liz, stage 5

I think I might declare this finished. At any rate, I'm going to to leave it for a few days and then come back to it. It didn't turn out too badly in the end, though I don't think I'll be using this type of paper for drawing on again. I had to resort to using my .3mm mechanical pencil to get into the small crevices in the paper!

technorati tags: drawing, graphite, portraits, WIP, Liz

Liz, stage 4

Here's another update of my portrait of Liz. Coming along quite nicely, I think. Slow progress, but I've no reason to hurry over this one.

technorati tags: drawing, graphite, Every+Day+in+May, portraits, Liz, WIP

Liz, stage 3

Here's another update. At one point today I almost gave up and started again on different paper as I'm having so much trouble with this. It would be great for something that had lots of texture, but I don't really want my wife's skin to have lots of texture! In the end I thought I'd keep going; it will be good practice for another version, if nothing else. I've started work on the hair as well as changing the right eye yet again and doing a bit more work on the mouth.

technorati tags: drawing, graphite, Liz, EverDayinMay, WIP, portraits

Liz, stage 2

I've not had much drawing time this week, so I haven't made much progress on this drawing, but I thought I'd post what I've done so far. I've corrected the eyes, though I notice that in the process the irises are now not round. But that's easily fixed. The mouth needs more work, but as I said, that's the hardest part! And the hair...I might not have mentioned that Liz has curly hair...

technorati tags: drawing, graphite, WIP, Liz, portraits

EDM #120

Here are a couple of torches. I'm amazed I could find two; normally torches are one of those things that I can never find when I want one, even though I must have bought loads of them! These are both done with a Rotring Art Pen.

technorati tags: pen+and+ink, drawing, EDM, torch, flashlight, Rotring+Art+Pen

EDM #1 and EDM # 110

I'm very upset because Liverpool were cruelly robbed of victory in the Champions League Final by AC Milan. (I'm talking about football, or soccer if you're in the US, in case you're wondering!) Although I live in Oxford, I'm originally from Liverpool, so this is a BIG DEAL. I didn't think it would be a good idea to work on my drawing of Liz in this mood! However, I needed something to take my mind off the pain, so I did a couple of quick sketches. Quite why I thought it would be a good idea to draw a burning candle using sepia and black ink, I'm not sure...just shows what my mental state is like! The shoe is a memory of a holiday in Hawaii in 2005. You couldn't get them in the UK at the time, but now they are everywhere, so I don't feel so special wearing them! But they still remind me of being on the beach in Maui...heaven! These are also my responses to EDM 1 and EDM 110.

technorati tags: pen+and+ink, neocolour, crocs, candle, EDM

Liz, WIP

I'm starting a drawing of Liz, my wife. It's based on a photograph that I took when we were on holiday in Switzerland last month. I've not done much work on it yet, but thought I would show the progress so far. I'm doing this on a 1/4 sheet of Arches HP paper. I'm not sure that's going to turn out to be a good choice; it's a bit rougher than I'm used to working on, so I hope I can make the skin look suitably smooth! Plus I still have the dreaded mouth to work on, generally the hardest part on the face, IMHO. Luckily, she's got her mouth shut, so at least I don't have to worry about the teeth. So far it's all done with a 2B .5mm mechanical pencil.

technorati tags: drawing, graphite, portraits, Liz

30 second poses

I recently went to a life class for the very first time. Slightly bizarrely, it was held at the gym club where I'm a member! The part that I enjoyed the best was doing a series of 30 second poses. It sounds scary at first, but actually is quite liberating, as no one can expect you to produce anything very stunning in such a short time so there is no pressure at all. What's more, the model can take up poses that would be impossible to hold for longer periods of time. I really enjoyed it; can't wait to have the chance again! Anyway, here are some of my drawings.

technorati tags: pen+and+ink, life+class

Wheatfield Church

Wheatfield Church is one of England's 1000 Best Churches, according to Simon Jenkins. It is a small church in the parkland of what was once a prosperous estate before the house burnt down in the nineteenth century. The church is still in use, though only in the summer as it has no electricity. It's a lovely spot, despite being within sight of the M40. I did this quick pen and ink sketch before my lovely daughter got bored!

technorati tags: pen+and+ink, wheatfield, church, oxfordshire

Sketching in the garden, and EDM # 119

I was planning to go out sketching today, but the weather wasn't really good enough, so I contented myself with some sketching in the garden. We have a number of acers in the garden, my DW particularly likes them. I'm not sure what the other one is (I'm not the gardener in our family!), but I like the blue colour. I've also included a rock from the garden, which is this week's EDM challenge!

technorati tags: watercolour, pen+and+ink, acer, garden

Problems with comments

I'm having some problems with comments at the moment. Serves me right for fiddling too much with my template, I guess! I hope to have it fixed soon.