Above: An image of part of a large sketchbook page; the plant depicted is Eupatorium perfoliatum: Thoroughwort Joe-Pye-Weed; 4B graphite pencil.Another problem in dealing with plants is the sometimes very very tiny little parts, in this case the flowers of English lavender. They had me so wigged out, I misspelled Lavender on the sketchbook page. Jeff uses magnifying goggles. I just strain my eyes.
Above: Image of flowers of Lavandula o. As usual, graphite; original drawing about 8 x 8 cm.The main challenge in dealing with plants Jeff and I have discussed at some length is the movements of living plants, as for example, in responding to light or heat (or both), and especially once blooming begins. Tremendous movement, sometimes of centimeters, can occur over the course of an hour or so. Happily for me, I was able to sketch the tulip below quickly, before it burst out of bud or swivelled out of frame.
Above: Tulip; original page size approximately 13.5 x 8 cm; Graphite pencil.
1 comment:
I gotta say, as I was browsing your multiple blogs I was very excited when I came upon your sketchbook! With tulips, the shape and contour line varies, like you said, depending on the amount of light and heat surrounding them. I haven't ever thought of flowers as being so closely related to a figure model in a sitting. They move, they slowly fall into position, and reach a beautiful, unique pose until they break for 15 min. That final position reminds of the one artist Euan Uglow that Jeff really admires. This artist would wait hours for that perfect pose. Way too excellent for words!
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