English Ivy Acrylic II

I've been learning a lot with this piece...

Emphasizing a light source means that everywhere that light falls must be consistent.

Heavy strokes are okay only if well controlled. I got into trouble with dark stripes that needed a good deal of attention to correct.

Acrylic washes are very cool, reminding me of egg tempera.

And, every stroke counts.

English Ivy Acrylic

This evening I reinforced the grays and then began applying washes. I like washing with my sables, but they're my lovely W&N's. I need to pick up a handful of synthetics and save the good ones for watercolor.

English Ivy Wrap

I learned a lot with this piece and it's time to move on. I left this image in a rather large size so we can easily see a couple of issues. Firstly, notice particularly in the shadows the blotchy build up. I think that's from too wet a brush. Then notice the dark spots, pigment particles that didn't mix down very well. Curiously, this inconsistent particle size came from a Nicosia Green Earth aqueous dispersion. If I mull the dispersion will that smooth out the pigment? A yellow ochre dispersion doesn't exhibit that mixed particle size.

I was able to reclaim some earlier shadowing and lay in highlights with Titanium Oxide, a whole new experience considering my brush media have been limited to watercolor.

A last thought, it's important to have a good working image. Oftentimes, tempera painters lay in an ink wash right on the gesso prior to applying color. Some artist even use silverpoint. What's important is to know just where the painting is to go before picking up a brush. Planning matters.

I am expecting an order of new pigments from Natural Pigments to arrive tomorrow. And, there is an order from Sinopia coming after that. By the way, Daniel Smith has a good selection of dry pigments and Dick Blick carries some Sinopia sets as well as the Sennelier line.

English Ivy Again

I'm retrying last nights English Ivy, this time with an easy, light touch. Many thin coats is the way to go. And, it really works! I'm going back in for additional depth and as for background, not sure yet.



From The Practice of Tempera Painting:

"The secret of ease and expedition in tempera painting may be summed up in one simple formula--Get your tempering right, keep your color liquid, and have your brush squeezed almost dry. In a word, make haste slowly. Tempera painting is as far from the technique of water color on the one hand as it is from the plastic paint-pushing of oil handling on the other. It is much closer to the technique of pencil rendering; and the tempera painter will do well to bear that comparison in mind, and handle his brush as if it were a pencil. When you want to lay a tone in tempera, do not try to float a wash, and do not try to spread the paint out with a brush; but run over the area to be covered with quick, easy strokes, like pencil marks. Follow this first coat with a second, applied in the same way, running the strokes perhaps at a little different angle, according to the form; and continue in this way until you have build up a deep and even a body of color as you want."


Thompson, Daniel V. Jr. The Practice of Tempera Painting. New York. Dover Publications. 1962. (Yale University Press. 1936.) pp. 99-100.

English Ivy

I think I liked this better a couple of hours before I stopped. The leaves curiously looked a lot more interesting and seemed brighter before the background came about. I think I am going to try this one again tomorrow.

I learned that many light coats makes for smooth transition. I've read those instructions but still brushed with a heavy hand. I wish you could see those leaves before I slipped back into full coverage washes rather than selectively applying to select areas.

Another little trick I picked up was using titanium white to highlight. Once the white was in place, a few washes with a transparent pulled it down.


Here's a grayscale that I'll reference for the next cut. Perhaps more tonal variation in the leaves and less in the background. That orangy-red is out too.


In fact, the b/w background might work...


By the way, this drawing was taken from my very first assignment in the Cornell drawing class.

And lastly, after working out the images, finishing this post, and getting wrapped up in a movie, I went back to clean up my palette and found my favorite brush still in water and with its lovely tip bent horribly. Bending it back just didn't work. Holding it straight down under running hot water released the curl!

My First Drawing Exercise

My first drawing assignment involves getting out into nature and observing. What catches my eye? What do I find particularly pleasing? How would I frame my subject for a drawing? It's suggested that I use a viewfinder to frame my subject.

It's been darned cold around here and unless I'm in the infrequent frame of mind of loving the cold, I'll look around quickly and grab a few twigs and pods and cones and run for the warm house. That's how the English Ivy has made its popular stand here.

This drawing encompasses many points of this week's assignment:

• Composition.
• Attention to negative space.
• Perspective; foreshortening.
• Signing work. I've never done this and scrambled to come up with a logo.
• Showing dimension by lightening background objects. (I only did this slightly and it shows better on the actual drawing that the foreshortened leaf recedes.)

I didn't get any shadows here but I do like the simplicity of so few lines. I did try to thicken a few lines for a shadowy effect. This style is really a whole new thing for me and I'm excited over it. I'd love to try more drawings like this one.

It's A Wrap

It's been a full week of English Ivy. It's done. How do I know? Well, I penciled in the core shadowing with a 4H and lightened the edges with a kneaded eraser. Dropped in some gentle shadows under most veining. Those were my intended wrap up tasks, I suppose...it's not always easy to know when a piece is done.

I didn't keep track closely but I think I put in about twenty-five hours on this piece. During this time, I began to pick up some comfort with my pencils and their sharpening. Same for using tracing paper with a cutout--that became important due to the size of this drawing.

I am still working on scanner settings. In fact, this image was from the camera. It's a reasonable approximation of the tones except I think the whites of my drawing are a bit lighter.

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! :-)

Closing In

I didn't have time to draw last night but I did just get in a few hours this evening, long enough to roughly block in all the veins. Now it's time to tighten things up.

I'm testing a couple of new settings regarding my scanned images:

• The scanner resolution was set to 300 dpi; it's now maxed to 1200.
• Worked with the gamma setting in Photoshop's Exposure adjustment after setting the white level.

More later as I research and play around with scanner and software.

Plugging away...

It's coming along, slow and sure. I'm trying various methods of altering tonal value with the scanner. This one came out not at all as expected. Testing to continue...

I think I'm getting a bit faster with the veining as my mind-muscle connections establish. Maybe a few more days?

An English Ivy Afterimage

Gulp. Did I really put in twelve hours yesterday? Is that why today I'm seeing afterimages? Everywhere I look, I see veining matrices. Oh my... :-)

English Ivy

I just started work on a cropped macro of English Ivy. You know, sometimes getting started can be the most difficult thing. Whether it's coming up with the subject that feels right or a matter of confidence or even simply overcoming inertia, getting to the initial layout can be a chore. Once I get over that hurdle, I can settle nicely into a kind of meditative involvement. It's just that darned getting started...

English Ivy

Amazing. I walk by this English Ivy, Hedera helix, every time I head out on a walk and today's the first time I notice it! Years ago while trimming some from a brick cottage, I brought home a few strands, cut them into short lengths, and rooted then in a bucket of water. I planted them in a row and had a nice wall cover on my exposed cellar wall. I wonder if this stand is somehow related?