Escaping to the Studio

“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” Twyla Tharp

I’ve always loved this quote because art truly does provide the means to escape. This week I have been busy in my studio painting oranges. My little heater and daylight lamps give me all the warmth and brightness I need, and an excellent audiobook The Luminaries, has captured my imagination and transported me back in time to the 19^th century whilst I paint. 

My warm bright studio... a haven from the wild wintry weather outside

The little oranges have helped too- such a sweet little fruit. I find them so evocative of the warm Mediterranean climate. Apparently there are over 35 million orange trees in Spain alone! 

However my little calamondin oranges (Citrofortunella microcarpa) , like most citrus fruit, orginated in Asia where they were first cultivated in 4000 BC. By 200 BC, the Romans, impressed with the nutritious fruits and fragrant evergreen trees were growing them in their gardens. The health benefits of the fruit were so well known that Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and Arab sailors planted citrus trees along the trade routes to help prevent scurvy. Christopher Columbus is said to have brought citrus seeds with him on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493, and considering that Brazil is now the world’s foremost producer of citrus fruit, it’s fair to say that they thrived in their new habitat.

The Garden of the Hesperides, c.1892 by Sir Frederic Leighton
  I've always liked this painting of the nymphs, languishing on a warm day beneath the mystical orange tree

Even in mythology, oranges have played a role.

Hera, the Greek goddess of Women and Marriage, and wife of Zeus, had a beautiful garden near Benghazi in Libya, in which grew a tree whose fruit had the power to bestow immortality. They are often referred to as golden apples, but later believed to be oranges. Three nymphs called the Hesperides were tasked with guarding the tree, along with a multi-headed serpent named Ladon. However one day the goddess of Discord, Eris, slipped into the garden and stole a golden fruit. She inscribed the golden fruit with the words “To the most beautiful”, and threw it into a wedding party from which she was excluded, and in the ensuing chaos, the Trojan Wars were started. You can read that story here

Linnaeus obviously believed that the "golden apples" were oranges too, as he originally gave the name Hesperideæ to the order containing citrus fruits.  All citrus fruit are are still known as hesperidium- a type of modified berry with a tough leathery rind which contains volatile oil glands. The juicy interior is divided into segments called carpels, each containing fluid-filled vesicles that are in fact, specialized hair cells. I bet you never realised that you were eating hair!

Aside from the numerous health benefits, oranges are also fun to paint. As you can see, I decided to paint the three oranges first and then paint the leaves, which are still causing me problems. 

The trick seems to be to take time to build up the colours. Using the reflective silver paper helped bounce light back onto the fruit. I started with cobalt violet, permanent rose and a touch of cerulean (Schmincke) in the cooler areas, before tackling the warmer areas with new gamboge, winsor orange, winsor orange red, scarlet lake, quin red and purple lake. I kept the colours quite clean, but towards the end added a tiny bit of the green into the mix to create the darket shadows. I built up the layers in small circular strokes to help create the dimples. At the end, I really looked closely at the dimples to get the tiny highlights and shadows. I think it's this final touch that makes all the difference.

Happy oranges, bad leaves

 The leaves continue to drive me demented. I spent a whole day painting leaves, and then made the mistake of fiddling. Vellum does not like to be fiddled with, and bits of paint began to lift, until the whole leaf became a horrible patchy mess. I fixed it as much as I could and decided to leave them  unfinished and move on instead to the third orange. Dianne suggested using another piece of paper to wipe the excess paint off before I put brush to vellum, and this seemed to help. I keep forgetting that vellum does not like wet paint at all!

I think I am finally getting the hang of those leaves, although this is unfinished

So next week I will be tackling those leaves once more, and "escaping" the bad weather. I'll leave you with the wise words of Henry David Thoreau 

“Maintain a kind of summer in the midst of winter, and by means of windows even admit the light, and with a lamp lengthen out the day.” 

Pondering Pigments

Ask any botanical artist which colour causes the most problems, and you’ll be surprised to hear them say Green.

Yes, that all essential, life-giving and luscious colour is notoriously difficult to get right. Unlike many colours which can be used straight from the pan, green has to be mixed. Commercial greens just don’t work … they are inevitably too blue, or too yellow, too vibrant (yes, I’m talking about you Viridian), too bright, too dark … all exasperatingly wrong! Even Sap green, a favourite of mine, has to be toned down to make it behave.

sketchbook experiments in green

This week began with the quest to find the right greens for my Calamondin orange leaves. The leaves are a dark blue-green on top, and a yellow-green underneath. I had used indigo for my earlier studies, but Indigo is like the Mariah Carey of pigments- it's such a diva! It’s a fabulous colour but it stubbornly refuses to be lifted. It muddies up all the other colours. It’s unpredictable and at times overbearing.

There was nothing for it but to find a better blue… so I made up a chart comparing  Indanthrene, Cobalt blue, Perylene green and Indigo. I mixed them with a selection of transparent yellows. I tried possible mixes over cerulean (which will be my first wash on the leaves)… but still the elusive green was not found.

By coincidence, Robert Genn’s weekly newsletter (worth signing up for if you haven’t already) was all about yellows. I was very interested to read that one of my favourite pigments, Indian Yellow, came about by feeding cows a diet of mango leaves, and then harvesting and drying the bright yellow urine. Remind me not to lick my paintbrush!! A similar colour, New Gamboge comes from the resin of the Garcinia hanburyi tree, found in Cambodia. In fact the word Gamboge comes from the word Gambogia, Latin for Cambodia. The pigment from this resin is used to dye the saffron coloured robes of Buddhist monks.

Comparing Winsor Yellow (deep), Indian Yellow and New Gamboge. I'm still sighing over the gorgeous Indigo though... look at the lovely dark it makes when mixed with sap green (second column from the right)

Inspired by this, I decided to compare the two pigments with my blues, and was surprised to find that although they look very similar on their own, the greens that they make are quite different. In fact Indanthrene and New Gamboge seem to be the answer to my green issue! Mind you, I haven’t yet put away the Indigo, so it might yet get a look in.

So onto the composition-

All traced out. I decided that I had too many leaves, so cut off a few.

 I selected three small branches of my little orange tree. I laid the sprigs onto paper to get the feel of the composition, took a photograph , and then drew each one out carefully onto a separate sheet of tracing paper. Then it’s just a matter of playing around until you get the right arrangement. As I plan to paint this onto vellum of a similar size to the Iris foetidissima, I felt that it would be nice to get a composition that would complement that of the iris. They are not a pair, but with luck, they will be both accepted into the SBA exhibition.

Laying them all side by side, helps me to envision what the final result will be

  

However I wasn't happy with the composition, and so redrew it to come up with a better one (right)

Tracing paper is such a great way of working out composition, particularly when you have more complex illustrations. You can move pieces about with ease and, if necessary, even flip images by simply turning the tracing paper over. If you use a photocopier, you can also reduce or enlarge your traced images- very handy when planning the composition of scientific botanical illustrations.

All set up and ready for action. The little bit of silver paper bounces light back up onto my fruit to give it a bit of "oomph!"

So, with my composition and the colours worked out, it’s now just a case of getting my head down and painting! I’ll try not to suck on the paintbrush though.

"They'll sell you thousands of greens. Veronese green and emerald green and cadmium green and any sort of green you like, but that particular green, never." Pablo Picasso

Orange Appeal

 The weather this week has been dark and dismal. Even as I write this, the rain is a relentless drumbeat against my window pane accompanied by a howling biting wind, and it's set to continue. However, I really don't mind. I've a delightful dwarf citrus tree, the Calamondin orange tree (× Citrofortunella microcarpa) sitting in my studio. It's sunshine in a pot.

As Frank Sinatra said  “Orange is the happiest colour.”

I knew as soon as I saw this plant that it would be perfect for my final SBA painting. I wanted something that would work well with the other paintings that I am submitting, and this lovely little shrub with  it’s dark glossy leaves and tiny orange fruit was just the right colour, subject and size. 

So on to that crucial "Getting to know you" stage. I cleaned off my palettes and pulled out all my pencils, paper, colour charts and paints and began my studies.

I soon realised that the light, or lack of it was going to be a problem. In order to show my fruit off to it’s best, I really needed strong lighting. The light also has to be constant- it’s impossible to start in natural light and then switch to an artificial one, as the colours and shadows change too much. So given the rather bleak weather forecast (rain, rain and yet more rain), I decided that artificial lighting was my safest option.

I found a fantastic little magnifying light in Argos (LightCraft Compact Craft Light) -  the magnifier is great and the light is extremely bright and gives off no heat (so no wilting plants). It has a flexible head and best of all, it’s great value for money!

The little oranges proved a little trickier than I thought. Those dimples were challenging but essential to the texture. I tried out different techniques to see which would work best- first carefully painting around the dimples, then applying masking fluid with a toothpick, and finally adding in tiny dots of white gouache at the end. I plan to paint this on vellum so will probably opt to just paint carefully around the dimples and pick out the highlights with the tip of a scalpel.

Different techniques give different results- the two at the top (left)  were done using masking fluid, the two beneath had white gouache added at the end, whilst the ones on the right were just painted carefully.

The colours that I mainly used were indian yellow, winsor orange, winsor orange-red, pink madder (Pebeo), quin red, scarlet lake, purple lake, and of course the wonderful cobalt violet… the ideal colour for reflected light on fruit.

So many greens, but which is the right one?

The leaves were a struggle. They are dark blue on the top and a yellowy green on underneath, but I still haven’t yet figured out the right colour mix!  I used Indigo and aureolin (with a little perylene green, cerulean and green gold) in the tiny study at the top, but Indigo is a staining colour, and so not very cooperative if you make a mistake or go to dark.  A weekend of colour mixing lies ahead and then the real fun can begin. 

Next week I'll paint to the music of the rain.

Vegetables in an Arab Spring

Often when I look at my artwork, I can vividly recall that moment in time when it was being created- where I was, conversations that I was listening too and even the emotions that I was feeling as I laid brush to paper.

Three years ago, I was in Cairo. The weather was stormy and uncertain, unusual for that that time of year. The dark clouds mirrored an uneasy feeling in the city. There was trouble in Tunisia and rumours abounded, but it all seemed so far away and so unlikely. I was more interested in getting on with my botanical art assignment for the SBA. I had just bought some purple carrots (Daucus carota)  from one of the street stalls and was looking forward to starting my sketches. 

Believe it or not, once upon a time, all carrots were purple. Although they originate from Afghanistan, purple carrots have been in Egypt for thousands of years and are even depicted on tomb walls. 

The first sign of trouble was the internet being turned off, and then the telephones.  Then the protests started. We lived in an affluent area in Cairo and we were surprised to find a small crowd on the street outside. At each building, the crowd would call up “inzil, inzil, inzil” (meaning “Come down”), and they would smile and clap and cheer as people joined them on the streets. It was all very good natured and polite. There were children and people waving flags. I went back to my painting.

Within a few hours, all hell had broken loose. Shopping centres were plundered and set on fire, the police were gone and the prisoners had all been set loose. The images that were being shown on TV were both shocking and bewildering. Cairo was in chaos. We went to bed, unsure of what would happen the next day.

The next day we woke up to the sound of army helicopters in the sky and tanks on the streets. Black smoke from fire filled the air. The mosque began to call all the men to come and defend the neighbourhood. Suddenly the streets were filled with men carrying machetes, shotguns, swords, batons, baseball bats … whatever weapon they could find. The Army began to send text messages to us all, telling people not to panic. Everyone was terrified. A curfew was set in place and people were told to close their curtains and not to venture out.  I stayed at home and painted vegetables.

Written on the side of the page- "We all have a voice"

It was a surreal and frightening few weeks. People were terrified of what might happen but with their worries came a great sense of community. People looked out for each other, shared food, swapped stories. The young men guarded the streets from attack.  Neighbours called into each other and brought dishes of hot food. There was fear, but there was enormous optimism too. 

Three years on, I find myself looking at these vegetable studies and my finished carrot painting,  and all these emotions and memories come flooding back. So much has happened since. I hope Egypt finds the peace and stability that it deserves. My Revolutionary Carrots will be submitted to the SBA this year.

Nature Trails 2014 - A Natural Sketchbook Exchange

 Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow

A few months ago, a small group of artist friends got together and decided to organise a sketchbook exchange. The idea was simple- we would each buy the same sketchbook, draw or paint in it, and then post it on to the next person. Each sketchbook would travel from artist to artist until at last it returns to it’s owner, filled with sketches and drawings. The criteria was simply that the sketches were to be based on nature.

We decided to use Stillman and Birn zeta sketchbook , undoubtedly the best sketchbook on the market. The paper is really good quality- heavy enough to withstand washes (270gsm) and wonderfully smooth and white.  The pages lie flat so that you can do double spreads with ease- there’s nothing worse than trying to draw whilst trying to keep an uncooperative sketchbook open!  The project almost fell at the first hurdle when we discovered that the sketchbooks were sold out! Luckily Stillman and Birn came to the rescue and on hearing of our plight, flew a special delivery of sketchbooks to their UK supplier.  

 “Nature Trails 2014- A natural sketchbook exchange” has begun!

"Draw everywhere and all the time. An artist is a sketchbook with a person attached." 

Irwin Greenberg

My sketchbook arrived, sleek, clean and full of promise. I had so many other things to do at the time, but those beautiful white pages kept tempting me. Ever since this project was conceived, I have had the phrase “Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow” in my head and I really wanted to include that somewhere in my sketchbook.

I decided that I’d also like to do something on the cover of my book in gold leaf. I lost several hours looking at vintage book covers online… so inspiring! I really loved these ones, although they were perhaps a little too ambitious for me.

Beautiful vintage book covers.

In the end, I decided to do a simple golden acorn on the cover.

For the title page I took a previous sketch of an acorn and leaf and modified it.

A sketch from last September

An envelope from Egypt, printed to look like papyrus fitted perfectly as an endpaper. I’ll be writing my address onto that too, just in case the book goes astray. Fingers crossed, none of the sketchbooks will be lost!

The double spread was a bit daunting, perhaps because that first sketch will set the tone for the book. I decided to let nature be my muse and headed out on a beautiful crisp winter morning to a nearby woods. I wasn’t quite sure what I would find, but once you start to look, you begin to notice all the subtle colours of winter, and the tiny signs of new life that are appearing all around.

"If one really loves nature, one can find beauty everywhere. "

Vincent van Gogh

 I’m going to try and use this project to learn more about the natural world around me. I’m delighted to say that the paper also lived up to my expectations … it didn’t buckle and took the paint very well.

Beech tree buds are quite beautiful up close 

But most of all, I’m feeling very excited to be involved with such a creative and supportive group of people. Their enthusiasm and encouragement is contagious!  It’s wonderful to start the year on such a positive note. Great things lie ahead.

Making it Work

How wonderful it is to return once more to the routine of my studio after the break! 

Iris foetidissima seeds on vellum... almost there!

 Alas, my Iris foetidissima seed heads didn’t  fare too well in my absence. The lovely orange seeds have lost much their plump juiciness, the crispy husks have darkened, and the leaves are really only fit for the compost heap. Fortunately I took a few photographs at the start of my set up, and so the painting continues using both the sad looking iris and the photographs. However I am pleased with how the painting is progressing.

ALWAYS take a photograph at the beginning of a painting!

Photographs are undeniably a great resource and so useful as a back up, but they can never be a substitute for the real thing. I much prefer to work from life. You can see and understand so much more from your subject when it’s sitting in front of you.

Using Artistic Licence to Make it Work

Very often you will find that the only way to paint a plant is to use a several different specimens of your chosen plant and combine them.  One plant might have a fantastic flower, but no buds, another might have some really super leaves but no flowers. Or, as in the case with my Iris seed heads, the seeds are still there (just about) but the foliage is completely beyond rescue! Photographs are useful, but they won't help you in this. It's much better to have a selection of plants in front of you and to use a little bit of  artistic licence to create the perfect specimen.

Ceiba speciosa, Silk floss tree 2010

The Ceiba speciosa painting above was one where I had to use a lot of artistic licence to make it work. It’s a beautiful flowering tree that grows everywhere in Egypt. Unfortunately as soon as it flowers, it begins to lose it’s leaves, and I really wanted to show both the leaves and the flowers in this painting. 

A Ceiba flower in Egypt and some dying leaves

 At the time that I was painting this, Egypt was having a mini heatwave, and everything that I picked was wilting within a few hours. It was a nightmare! I managed to find a tree that had both it’s leaves and it’s flowers, and every day I set out early to get fresh cuttings. I started by drawing out the main stem, noting where the leaves and flowers should be, and then it was just a matter of trying to find a similar plant part each day to match up. 

Flower by flower, leaf by leaf, I completed this painting. Photographs would not have done because this perfect specimen only existed in my head.

So back to my iris… I am almost finished (at last!!) The photographic references have helped me with the berries, but I am going to have to seek out some fresher foliage this weekend and try to select leaves that will add elegance and interest to the composition. Sometimes you have to take a few liberties to make it work!

"Even in front of nature one must compose." Edgar Degas

Plans, promises and paintings 2014

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." Albert Einstein

Normally I’m not one for making New Year Resolutions as they usually involve the half-hearted renouncement of chocolate and mince pies, and earnest vows to become fitter. Usually these good intentions are forgotten by the end of January . 

So this year, I have decided instead to make a List of Plans and Promises relating to my artwork which I hope will be easier to keep!

       SBA Membership- Top of my wish list is to become a full member of the Society of Botanical Artists.   

  I’m already half way there but it’s been a long hard journey. First step was to complete 27 months of course work, which earned me a Diploma with distinction. Then, last year I had to have six paintings accepted into the annual exhibition to become an Associate member. Now I face the final challenge of having five more paintings accepted into the SBA annual exhibition at Westminster.  I’ve one more to paint and then it’s fingers crossed. If I don’t get accepted, then I’ll be doing five more next year!

A lovely gift to keep me busy throughout the year.

·      Vellum- I am really enjoying painting on vellum. It imbues such a softness to watercolours and is quite thrilling to work on. My very kind parents gifted me with a lovely fat parcel from Wiliam Cowley with a selection of vellums to play with. Although the kelmscott is considered the crème de la crème  for botanical artists, I really like the look of the natural calfskin with it’s honey colour and natural flaws. Yes, working on different vellums is definitely on the list!

A sketchbook page from last spring- I'm looking forward to doing more studies like this in 2014

    Sketchbook – I am really excited about a project which I hope will kick off in the next few weeks… a Sketchbook Exchange which involves some very talented and inspiring friends. We have all ordered our dinky little sketchbooks from Stillman and Birn and the plan is to paint and post these sketchbooks to each other throughout the year. I am looking forward to trying out new ideas and getting creative! 

The Gilder's Tools

    Gold-  Ah, the glitter of gold always catches my eye! I love illuminated manuscripts and old books, and inspired by my recent trip to the Chester Beatty Library, have decided that this year I am going to try to combine contemporary botanicals with gold and silver leaf, perhaps on vellum. Fortunately my mother is a gilder and so I have a very handy supply of materials (and an enthusiastic mum) on hand.

Off it goes!

       Travel-  This year already is promising to be a great one for travelling. One of my paintings is soon off to Spain for a very exciting exhibition (more later!) and hopefully I will be going to visit it there.  Then there is the SBA exhibition in London in May. Shortly after that I’ll be heading back to Egypt for the summer where I plan to do lots of painting.

Nothing beats painting by the pool!

·        RHS work- Last year my work was deemed "of an acceptable standard" by the RHS, and so I hope to start work on a series of paintings of dates (Phoenix dactylifera) this summer. I love the light in Egypt and am spoilt for choice with all the beautiful date trees that grow there.

Painting dates in Egypt,2013

·        Tie up loose ends- I think every artist has a few unfinished pieces in their studio and I’m no exception. I started this barn owl last year as a present for my brother. It’s almost done, so I’ve no excuse!

 

Ben's barn owl, 2013

          Explore composition- I was really inspired by Thorntons’ The Temple of Flora and loved how the artists painted backgrounds to complement the portrait of the plant. Each painting told the story of the plant- the where, when and how it grows in it’s habitat. It’s definitely something that I feel could be explored more thoroughly. One of the sites that I have have bookmarked is KatherineTyrrell’s Making A Mark Resource page on Composition. There is a lot there to read and take in, but it’s worth reading carefully.

Perhaps a painting of spring bulbs could have a wintry background such as this? 2013

·        And finally, I want to keep blogging, at least until the end of the year. It’s been very helpful to me to verbalise my thoughts and plans. I usually have far too many ideas and don’t always write them down, so this is a great way to get myself organised. Let’s hope that I’ve more willpower than I do with chocolate!

 Happy New Year everybody!!

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it.”       -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe