Crabapple Framed

I couldn't wait. Last night I spent a few hours on the painting and today picked up the frames. It's not mounted yet, just dropped in to see the look. I like it! There's still some cleanup and signing. It will need a bit of shimming to keep the panel properly in place.

Crabapples Redux

Following encouragement from Dorothy on my crabapples painting, I've put in some effort the past two evenings. There's more work ahead but I'm liking where this is going.

Bringing It Back

I felt a bit of regret after blasting this painting into darkness, but although I did like the delicate look I still wanted to push the tonal range. This evening I'm working on bringing it back and I'm starting to get comfortable with this new look.

Today I signed up for a botanical art course! The Friends of Horticulture on the Wellesley College campus hosts a whole botanical certificate program as well as a bunch of fascinating workshops. Read all about the curriculum here.

I'll be taking this entry level course:

Foundations of Botanical Drawing and Painting

Learn the basics of botanical art with our lead instructor and Education Director, Sarah Roche. Under her guidance, realistically render botanical forms in pencil and watercolor. Through demonstrations and tutorials Sarah will introduce you to the traditional art and science of botanical drawing and painting. Instructional focus includes observational skills, drawing, composition, design, and watercolor techniques.

My interest in art came about through botanical. These days I am not sure where I am going or even which media I  might settle on. Yep, I'm confused. I figure that I will simply explore everything I want and see where this all leads me. I'd like to feel that I have solid direction but it's just not there at this time.

But in the meantime, I am so lucky to be studying with Sarah Roche. Check out her website here. And also very lucky to be tied with NESBA and their incredible talent--I'm humbled and motivated.

And speaking of exploration, more on Munsell soon! :-)

A Different Look

The background is developing. I dropped in the illusion of leaves and then overlaid many layers of various pigments. On the last layers using dioxazine violet I also went over portions of the two front fruit for some shadowing. Next I will go back it and redevelop detail and highlighting. I want to work on soft and hard edges weaving in and out.

On another note, I'm starting a new project! The New Munsell Student Color Set, 3rd Edition arrived today. I will be working through the exercises, blogging as I go. More later.

More Crabapple

Here's a start on a background. The gold ochre is not quite so yellow here but it'll be changing any way, to what I'm not sure. Smoothed out the shadowing and added highlights and reflected light. I'm taking a break now before developing the light. First I must decide on the background.

Crabapple cont

Building up color and form. Overdid the shadowing a bit with prussian blue glazes--hoping to pull it back with some white stumbles and red glazes. There's just a bit of highlighting at this time. I'm having a good time with this piece.

Crabapple

Rather than continuing with the Buckthorn, I'm turning to a crabapple setup. I feel that I pushed intensely dark values too quickly and also had a lot of trouble with layer lifting.

So here I am trying a larger image (6x8") and working with subtle values. And most importantly, I am working hard to hide brushstrokes. There is some blotchiness but I'm learning to stay out of trouble. Patience and attentiveness are key.

A Crabapple Scan

This first week on the course is for general orientation--introductions, becoming familiar with the interface, and testing uploads. I thought I'd do a quick scan of my budding out crabapple branch for my test upload. It came out better than expected so I thought I'd place it out here. Scans usually provide a white background but with the scanner cover open...

A bit of green, an introduction, and of course the ivy...

Not long ago I clipped an ornamental crabapple branch as a model and never got to it. But, I did drop it into a glass of water and look what happened! :-) If the blossoms come through, we'll get a peek at them right here. More later...

My botanical art course officially opens on Monday. This evening I placed my introduction out on the web site. As I promised that you will be following along with me as I work my way through, here I share with you my intro:

Hello everyone!

I'm John from Bridgewater, Massachusetts and truly excited to be here. But, it did take me a few weeks to finally join up. I came up with all kinds of excuses not to take this course, but all the time I really knew that I was nervous about putting myself on the line, about exposing my work as a true beginner.

I've been interested in botanical art for a couple of years and tried to jump in with watercolors. But without experience in drawing, light and shade, and perspective, I struggled and then gave it up. In December I picked up a pencil and drew a Bosc pear that actually looked like a pear! I was hooked! Since then I have been drawing every day, mostly with dried leaves, and having a wonderful time. I now feel like drawing is a part of my life and I hope to build my abilities. I must say that the pen and ink leaves me with a bit of trepidation but I'm ready to give it a go.

At fifty-six years old, I'm in that pre-retirement planning mode and the idea of delving deeply into botanical drawing and painting seems most inviting. I'm hoping that this course gives me a good push in the right directions towards that goal.

-- John

And lastly, here's a little bit of progress on the ivy. Soon I will need to balance out the tones and work out some selective shading. (As you can tell, I'm still working on the scans.)

p.s. The comments display misbehaved today, refusing to let go of a spam comment that I had earlier deleted. Not sure yet if it will return. Perhaps something new can take it's place... But, please, please, keep commenting! I love 'em! :-)

Crabapple

Comparing a crabapple post from a couple of months back, the fruit has matured and the leaves display wear and tear. Always change, often imperceptible day to day. That shouldn't surprise me and maybe it doesn't. Perhaps it's simply a humbling pleasure in the recognition of nature's powerful yet subtle ways.

Crabapple

Here's a nice little crabapple tree that grows shoreside at the south end of the lake.


From Wikipedia:

... crabapples are an excellent source of pectin, and their juice can be made into a ruby-coloured jelly with a full, spicy flavour^[4]. A small percentage of crabapples in cider makes a more interesting flavour.^{[citation needed]} As Old English Wergulu, the crab apple is one of the nine plants invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century.

Crabapples are widely grown as ornamental trees, grown for their beautiful flowers or fruit, with numerous cultivars selected for these qualities and for resistance to disease.

Some crabapples are used as rootstocks for domestic apples to add beneficial characteristics.^[5] For example, varieties of Baccata, also called Siberian crab, rootstock is used to give additional cold hardiness to the combined plant for orchards in cold northern areas^[6]

I've noticed that birds seem to frequent this tree, perhaps because it offers quick protection on their way to and from a drink at lake's edge. And of course, in due time they will dine on the fruit.


"Malus." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 Aug 2009, 00:57 UTC. 3 Aug 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malus&oldid=305728206>.