Virginia Creeper Wrap

This evening came washes and edges and veins and color to the shadows. Last night I had every intention of searching out some berries to go with these leaflets but the bustling nature of office life today did me in. (I so wanted a day off when I looked over my painting this morning.) Additionally, I didn't have a clear intent to completing the veins and so wandered a bit. This could be a revisit piece, with berries! :-)

Virginia Creeper Ongoing

Three hours flew by. I forgot to eat. I had a great time! :-) Hoping tomorrow for some final washes and fine tuning for the edges and veins. And yes, probably with a 2 or 1 or... ;-)

Virginia Creeper

Here is the beginnings of a Virginia Creeper study. I have moved back to Winsor and Newton paints, seemingly a whole new experience after some time with Rublev and limited palette. I found that a mix on Winsor Red and Cadmium Orange brought me in close to leaf color. Also New Gamboge for leaf underlay and probably washes in the future, and Permanent Alizaron Crimson for petiole and main veining.

My model is a few-day old pressing that is losing color rapidly, even though I keep it protected from light when not in use. I'll most likely pick fresh samples as I continue this study.

The brushes in this image are quite my favorites, Raphael 8408 in #4 and #6. I find that I can do fairly fine work as long as they are not too saturated. My W&N Series 7 #6 doesn't come close to fine tipping as these Raphaels, but to be fair, these are the fine tipped line. Raphael makes a series 8404 with "regular tips" and I suspect that they are closer to the W&N Series 7. I do have smaller W&Ns (#4 on down to 00) and really should try them out for fine work. Simulateously, I am tempted to simply fill out the Raphaels on both sides...

Virginia Creeper

Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, a member of the grape family, is a rather well-populated native vine around the lake.

From Wikipedia:

"Virginia creeper can be used as a shading vine for buildings on masonry walls. Because the vine, like its relative Boston ivy, adheres to the surface by disks rather than penetrating roots, it will not harm the masonry but will keep a building cooler by shading the wall surface during the summer, saving money on air conditioning."

From Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens:

"There is needless prejudice against covering a shingled or frame cottage with Virginia creeper, because it is said to rot the walls. We have found this is not true. Sixteen years ago, when we took our old house, the frame was newly shingled, and where the vine is close and thick near the roof, the shingles are still new and fresh looking; elsewhere they have turned a silvery gray. The leaves, extending outward, act like countless watersheds, and only when they fall do the walls ever get wet. "




"Parthenocissus quinquefolia." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 12 Aug 2009, 22:55 UTC. 7 Oct 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parthenocissus_quinquefolia&oldid=307645811>.

Albee, Helen Rickey. Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens. New York, 1910. 77-8. Web. Google Book Search. 6 Oct 2009.

Virginia Creeper

Here's a pretty vine that I now see all over the place. Five tooth-edged leaves. A real climber. Known for brilliant fall foliage. Will be sporting attractive purplish, although poisonous, berries later on.

For way too long, I'd pass by this species telling myself that 'it's not poison ivy'. Sometimes I define by negation. I guess it's a method to manage the unknown. :-)

It's Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia.



Here's a Photoshop experiment using a few filters. I've received positive feedback on my dreamy attempts and I do like that effect but something about bright, almost garish, color seems to attract me. For tomorrow's post, I will attempt a middle ground treatment--that is, closer to reality but in a contrastingly isolated fashion.