Garden Sage - Flower Drawing 12

Salvia officinalis - Garden Sage

The original drawing:

Transferred to another sheet of paper and colored with watercolor pencils:

Exciting Times

There has been so much going on lately, mostly wonderful! I have been working on my flower drawings, but have not had a chance to post the last few. I am working on articles and a tutorial for 12 Months in View and am going to be offering two workshops at Etsy's World Craft Party 2013 at the Arcade in Bridgeport, CT. That takes place on Thursday, June 20th. I was also asked today if I would be interested in teaching papermaking workshops through an organization I have been involved with. You know I said yes!

I've also signed up for two summer blog challenges. One is a photography scavenger hunt and the other is a Summer of Color.

Plus I have been busy with outdoor adventures and have been posting that news on my nature/horticulture blog.

I will be getting this blog updated with all of this as soon as I am able.

Rhododendron and Iris - Drawings 10 and 11

Finally warm enough temperatures to sit outside and draw, I set up Friday morning to draw the spectacular bearded irises which are in bloom.

 When I set up at 9 a.m., the area was in the shade. I was only able to sketch for 20 minutes before the sunlight began to shine on the white paper and reflect into my eyes.I think I captured the essence of these flowers and am happy with the sketch.

I decided to move over to the rhododendrons which were in full bloom and in the shade. There I was able to sketch for a half hour before the sun began to shine on my paper.

Wish I had more time to work on this to add the flowers on either side of this one.

Lily of the Valley - Drawing 9

Lily of the Valley, Convallaria majalis. 

I didn't do a "photo shoot" of the plant this week, choosing instead to spend my time rendering it in colored pencil. After doing a pencil drawing and transferring it onto another sheet of paper, I used Prismacolor pencils to add the color.

Wild Violets - Drawing 8

Last week I gathered an assortment of wild violet flowers and leaves, placed them a glass and photographed them. It was a cloudy day and I used a white background. I believe these components were helpful in producing these detailed photographs.

I find the beauty of these plants stunning. The colors and graceful shapes take my breath away!

Learning from the last drawing's lesson (Muscari), I did not sit down to draw this in the dining room with the east and south facing windows. Last time I had a difficult time placing the shadows because the lighting continued to shift as I was drawing. This time I set up the violets in a room with western exposure (end of day sunlight) and drew in the morning using a desk lamp to provide shadows. I drew for an hour and a half (it takes me a long time to get the shapes correct). I stopped and went to an appointment. When I returned home it was late afternoon and the sun was shining into the room, though not on the desk where the violets were.

The flowers and leaves had moved during these few hours! They must have followed the sun. Now there was no way to put the leaves and flower stems back to the original set up, so had to leave this sketch as is.

Muscari - Drawing 7

I picked and brought inside some Muscari which is blooming in my perennial garden.  I took some photographs, then selected and drew three.  Two days later, I used colored pencils to create this study. I like the way the flowers and stems look, but the leaves need more work. I was working in my dining room with natural light and the lighting changed several times. The shading isn't quite complete on the leaves.

Here are a few of the photos and the drawing in progress.

Viola tricolor - Flower Drawing 6

I didn't take into account when I set out to do this project of photographing and drawing a different flower each week, that it might be difficult to locate live specimens. In a few months, I will have so many flowers to choose from, the hardest part will be deciding on one. Right now, however, not much is blooming and it is still quite chilly to be outside sketching and photographing those that are! The flower shops are a source. That is where my daughter bought the orchid and I bought the cut daffodils. But looking recently, I am not finding any that strike my fancy. For now, I will use photographs as references for drawing.

Another thought that occurred to me is that choosing a different flower each week prevents me from delving deeper into the multiple facets of some flowers. For instance, there is so much more to explore on the orchid. I do have a limited amount of time in which to complete these exercises each week. Maybe it is more realistic to entitle this project 52 Flower Drawings: A Year in Bloom. That way I can continue to work with a particular flower until I feel I have exhausted the possibilities.

Here is the sketch for this week. I would like to do a cluster of these cute Heart's Ease or Johnny Jump Ups, the way they grow in the garden (similar to the photo below.)

Heartsease - Viola tricolor

from Wikimedia Commons

Visual Journals Workshop

some of my students and me

Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching an introductory workshop on creating visual journals. This particular workshop focused on using them for prayer, praise and bible study. Eight women signed up for the class and we had a wonderful time together!

To see more photos, visit my Facebook Page here.

I spent most of last week preparing for this workshop so did not have time to photograph or draw a flower for my 52 Flowers - A Year in Bloom project.

Narcissus - Week 2 of A Year in Bloom

Photography lessons learned this week:

Lesson 1 On creating an interesting photograph
The setting in which the subject is placed is as important as the subject itself. Here I began photographing the vintage blue Ball jar with daffodils in isolation. I love the color combinations. It is rather boring as a photograph though.

Placing the jar of daffodils among other items gives the viewer a sense of place, a sense of scale and is just more interesting overall.

Do you agree?

Lesson 2 Lighting
These photos were shot at 7:30 a.m. on a cloudy morning. No interior lights were on. I was fully expecting the photos to be really dark. Surprisingly, they are not. The natural light, though it was low, was enough. The shutter speed was set to auto so I don't know what the selected ISO was. Probably 800. There is a slight blurriness to the photo because of camera shake while the shutter was open. I think I prefer this lighting to that of a sunny day. I know for next time to set up the tripod to shoot in this light.

Lesson 3 Keep Experimenting
I moved the flowers to my studio where I have a combination of fluorescent lights -  regular daylight and Verilux. I placed a large piece of white mat board behind the flowers and took many close up photos. I really like the results!

Lesson 4 Create a Filter

I was using a magnifying glass while sketching the daffodils. I decided to try it as a macro lens. It was pretty tricky trying to hold the magnifying glass in one hand and the camera in the other AND press the button! It may not have worked as a macro lens, but it did seem to provide a softer look as one might achieve with a filter.  I LOVE how these photos turned out! I should look for one of those old fashioned magnifying lenses on a stand.

This week's drawings

 Another week of other stuff to do. Didn't have as much time to devote to drawing as I would have liked. When the daffodils are blooming in my yard, I will draw them again to have several sketches to work from when I want to do a finished piece.

Phalaenopsis Orchid - Week 1 of A Year in Bloom

Here is the first of what I intend to be 52 flower drawings to be completed over the next year. This is a challenge I have set up for myself to get me into the routine of observing, drawing and photographing a subject.

My daughter gave me this lovely Phalaenopsis orchid for my birthday.  The rich magenta petals accented with plum dots and veins is truly stunning. The first challenge was trying to get the colors true in the photographs. I wanted to use the lace curtains as a backdrop and work with morning sunlight. The sun seemed to be a hindrance so I photographed again in the afternoon when it was cloudy. I experimented with different camera settings.

 

Here are the sketches I worked on:

quick sketch

the back side of the flower

 

  

 I would like to develop these sketches further and add color. I want to do more detail sketches. As I closely examined the flower I discovered a series of triangles within it. I don't have an appropriate macro lens to zoom into these details for photographing.

52 Flowers - A Year in Bloom

Thinking about this idea of creating 52 somethings all day yesterday, last night as I was falling asleep and this morning upon waking, I have my idea. It is in keeping with my other goals, will not take up too much time (guess we'll see about that!) and give me direction and focus.

I plan to select a flower each week, draw, photograph and find a quote relating to it. I will post these results each Sunday morning. The first post will appear March 3rd. At the end of this project, I will have gained stronger drawing skills and hopefully will have learned how to take better photographs. The drawings will be available for later artwork. (I can see silkscreen versions of them and possibly notecards.) As a way to bring the project together, I would like to publish the blog posts in a book using Shutterfly or one of the other photo printing websites.