SUSAN HEAL

Racoon Skull

Susan's most recent work has revolved around this racoon skull she found in her woodland garden. This piece is a graphite drawing worked to carefully reveal the textures in the surface of the bone and the deeply etched fine lines where the bone plates connect to one another. Once again Susan's delicate touch has done this play of light and dark a fine justice.

Stay tuned for more images of this little skull. Susan is currently working on a watercolour of it from a different angle altogether.

PAM COHEN

Red Onion

This beautiful study in violets and reds took weeks to paint and it changed a lot over time. Pam kept it in the fridge between sittings and it held up remarkably well for the length of time, despite losing a few bits in the process.

Here is the original drawing, wonderfully rendered in great detail. Both works retain a great sense of roundness and dimension.

RENEE ALEXANDER

Miniature Rose 

A classic corsage composition... 
Renee captured the colour and details beautifully in this charming painting.


Again, the painting was preceded by a detailed drawing. 

Tonal studies like this one and Max Wu's below are very helpful to the painting process, when the subject is drooping or changing too quickly. They assist in getting the shadows right, and in figuring out the subtle shifts in colour that may be lost as the plant ages. 

MAX WU

St. John's Wort - Dried Seed Capsule

Max's first finished watercolour! Months in the making, she started with a very carefully observed drawing... as you can see below.

Max made this detailed ink drawing about 6 times larger than life. The subject itself measures only about 1-1.5 inches in diameter and was drawn entirely while looking through a magnifying glass. 

She has started work on a second drawing of the same plant, another seed capsule but of a different specimen at an earlier stage, before the opening of the central seed pod. 
Stay tuned...

MARY FROST

Apple Core

This tiny, dried apple core has been Mary's main subject for weeks as she's carefully built this drawing, many times magnified. The core itself is only a few inches long.

Sometimes the humblest of subjects can be the most intriguing and beautiful. 

Mary has now embarked on the challenge of painting it in all its subtle complexity. 

Watch this space...

 

MERIEL LINDLEY

Heather

























A sketchbook page of blind-contour drawings done during a session of Seeing Meditation classes this past summer. 

Meriel started getting to know her subject this way, drawing with a pen while keeping her eyes only on her subject and not looking at the page. This kind of drawing is invaluable to mastering the ability to draw what is really there and avoid the pitfalls of drawing what we think we see. The left hemisphere of the brain likes shorthand and generalizations. This technique gets the brain to switch hemisphere's to the right side, which is all about details and the visual.

I love the truth of these drawings. They can be all over the place but they capture the true shapes and individuality of the subject.
























And here is the painting that followed. A charmingl page reminiscent of an old fashioned book plate.

Watermelon

Serendipity at work in the studio... Meriel dropped her watermelon on the floor and it cracked, inspiring her to paint it as it emerged in all its flawed perfection.

Ornamental Corn









































This cob of coloured jewels presented quite a challenge both in the drawing and the painting. Getting the distinctive regular/irregular pattern of kernels without going cross-eyes was followed by painting each one with its center of light and specific markings.

With a subject as complex as this it can help to find ways to mark your place... Meriel used coloured tape dots at intervals and counted her way between them to make sure everything matched up. 

Taking on a cob of corn is the equivalent of reading a very thick novel, perfect for the artist that like to spend a long time with the same companion. If you're a short-story sort of person you might want to reconsider!

JANE CROSBY

Pitcher Plant

Jane completed this painting in spring of this year. There's a good sense of transparency and light emerging in this piece.

Below are some previous examples of her work, in descending chronology, to her first drawing in her first class with me. It's great to see the leaps of progress in such a few works!


Echincea

The leaves in this painting are particularly fine as is the texture in the cone of the flower. A good use of darks and lights create dimensionality.


Cyclamen

This was Jane's very first painting! And below is one of the first drawings she did in preparation. Her progress has been swift and I really look forward to seeing what she does in the future.

MARY FROST

Iris Blossom (detail)

Mary's been working hard on her beloved iris series over the past 3 years.
Some of these works began last Iris season, in 2012, and had to rest until they could be finished this year. 


Iris Blossom

 
The iris is one of the most challenging flowers to paint due to the bloom's short lifespan, generally lasting all of two days at the outside. Keeping them in the fridge helps... a little.


Iris Bud (detail)

After a few years of practice Mary's iris paintings have greatly improved in their subtlety and sensitivity, as has her knowledge of her subject... she knows which parts to paint first and which parts last longer and can wait. She also knows exactly how much time she has to paint, from start to finish. That's why she does so many drawings the year before. Planning is a very important part of botanical painting.


Iris Bud

 





Iris Rhizome (detail)

Mary painted this rhizome this year. She dug it up early and kept it in a glass of water while she tried to capture its unique character.


Iris Rhizome

Iris Drawing (detail)

You can review Mary's earlier iris drawings and paintings by clicking on the link in the footer.


Iris Drawing

RENEE ALLEXANDER

Chinese Lantern

Renee created this challenging drawing over the 5 weeks of the Botanical Drawing class at Emily Carr. 
She worked very slowly and carefully in darkening layers, as for a painting, to create the papery likeness of these lanterns and their crisp and dried leaves.
A tonally balanced composition, exquisite in its detail...

SUSAN HEAL

Echeveria

Susan's coloured pencil drawing of a soft, chalky Sempervivum.
Very sensitively modeled; you can see the edges of light on the thickness of the leaves.
Susan painted this first with watercolour but found that coloured pencils were more appropriate to accurately depict the texture and whitish bloom on the fleshy leaves.

MARY FROST

African Violet

It took Mary a year to complete this painting.
The plant ceased blooming halfway through so she waited and worked on other things until it bloomed for her again.
She worked hard on the fleshy leaf texture while her plant was recovering and setting new blossoms. 
The composition is delightful...
Well worth the wait.

Orchid

This painting also took about a year to complete.
The blossom Mary was drawing got knocked off and in the interim she conceived of this imaginative composition, showing the different stages of growth from bud to flower.
The painted, dried blossom took many weeks of careful painting under a magnifying lens to capture the papery wrinkles in detail.

Below are some close-ups of the different parts of the painting including the tiny crinkled blossom.
The whole painting measures approx. 12" x 16".

This little curled up blossom is only about an inch wide and was painted with a #000 brush.


Nigella

Mary painted this Nigella blossom in the fall, when the rest of the plant was going to seed. 
She managed to keep the last blooms alive just long enough to create this delicate, lacy portrait.


Mary worked very diligently this past year without being able to see anything to completion through no fault of her own.
Working with plants is a tricky business; they move around, they dry up and die, they have their own lives!
It's hard to keep working when the fruits of your labours keep putting you off until tomorrow. 
You can imagine the relief when it all comes together and the year comes to a close with three such lovely paintings to show for it.

All in all, a marvelous year's work and a testament to patience and perseverance!

SUSAN HEAL

Mirabella Plum Branch

Susan created this soft painting applying watercolour over a very light graphite drawing. Already an accomplish draughtswoman, this is only her second botanical painting!


Mirabella Plums

Here is Susan's first drawing of these lovely little plums from the tree in her garden, dancing lightly over the page. This drawing was done in graphite on BFK Rives, a soft, porous paper with a light tooth to the surface. Paired with Susan's light hand, the chemistry is divine...

MONIKA KOLODZIEJCZEK

Begonia

Monika took my classes at Emily Carr in the spring and produced this delightful stippled pen and ink drawing of a sprig of begonia, focusing on translating colour into tone. It was a delight to watch her work so carefully and with great sensitivity. I hope to see more from Monika when her busy life allows.

ELIZABETH KIDD

Holly

This is Elizabeth's first botanical painting, completed last fall here at the studio. 

It made for a very fine Christmas card.


Giant Sugar Pine Cone

This coloured pencil drawing of a giant sugar pine cone was an experiment Elizabeth undertook to see what she could do with coloured pencils. 
Using oil-based pencils (Faber Castell) she blended them using a citrus-based solvent applied with a q-tip to create a smooth, water-colour-like effect.
The resulting study in darks and lights sits very elegantly on the page, opening another door for Elizabeth's queries into the world of botanical illustration. 

JOHANNA DOLLERSON

Paperwhite Narcissus

Johanna Dollerson took my drawing and painting classes at ECUAD this year where she produced this lovely detailed study of a paperwhite narcissus. 

Johanna has been drawing since childhood, completed "half a fine arts degree" in her native England before throwing up her hands in frustration as do many who are seeking technical instruction at art school only to be confronted with the vagaries of the conceptual model. 

I'm happy she fled to Canada, however briefly, for the pleasure of having her in my classes.

She is now working to match the strength of her drawing skills with the challenges of painting in watercolour, something entirely new to her.

Helleborus Leaf

Johanna got seduced by the details in this drawing of a Helleborus Leaf, something which tripped her up in the painting. It's one of the many challenges botanical work faces us with... how many details to include, and which ones!

RENEE ALLEXANDER

Ivy 

Renee Alexander is a talented lettering artist who makes her living as a calligrapher here in Vancouver. www.reneestudio.ca 

She came to the class with the desire to improve her drawing and painting skills so that she could incorporate images into her lettering work.

Specifically focused on creating depth, this gentle study in subtle greens in Renee's first botanical painting in watercolour.

Lichen

Renee's observation skills are very fine, as witnessed by this delicate graphite drawing.

MARY FROST

Iris

Mary's iris bloomed again this year, and so did this painting of the two bookend stages of the life cycle.

Mary's painting skills have progressed marvelously these past 12 months, and with her new found love of the #000 brush, so has her ability to render the fine, papery details of this specimen.

This is the beginning of a painting of the emerging flower from the image above.

Iris last about 3 days from start to finish. The morning after painting this bloom the flower was crumpled and on it's way out of this world. I can't wait until next year...

Orchid

This highly detailed and fully rendered drawing on hot-pressed paper took Mary about 14 weeks of careful work to realize. The result was worth the effort and patience, even if my photo doesn't do it justice. She succeeded in her goal of wanting to show the flowers in all their different angles, creating a wonderful sense of perspective and drama.

Mary Frost was recently accepted into the American Society of Botanical Artists. She was interviewed last week for the September issue of their members' magazine. Congratulations Mary!

Colleague Dana Cromie is also a member of the ASBA. You can view examples of both of their works on the ASBA website, and I'll post the article when it comes out.