Letting watercolour work its magic! (Photo and image copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)
Jan McDonald, the Rare Books Librarian at the State Library of Victoria, uses two books from the collection to show the difference between botanic illustration and flower painting.
One book contains depictions of Australian plants collected by scientific illustrator Austrian Ferdinand Bauer. The other, by the decorative French painter of flowers Pierre-Joseph Redouté, captures the blooms growing in Josephine Bonaparte’s garden at Malmaison
And exploration of Australia played a key part in the creation of both books. Enjoy!
Letting watercolour work its magic! (Photo and image copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)
Lots of things have been bubbling away in my mind lately. You know some of my creative thoughts, but also I have been pondering about the rhythm of my blog ~ what I want to post and how often. I think I have come up with a sustainable rhythm. It involves posting twice a week, with posts that I am describing as Me posts and You posts.
My Me posts will be the story of my life, mainly my creative life ~ the sorts of things that I have been rambling on about for the last five or so years! They will probably be published on the weekend.
The You posts will be ones that I think you will find interesting ~ links to other blogs, stories of others’ creative lives, quirky stories, environmental news. I have lots of ideas, but let me know if there is anything you would be interested in reading.
So today is my first official You post…..
Botanical art traditionally has been created with watercolours, but sometimes I come across an artist who achieves wonderfully detailed works using different media. Mary Delany is such an artist.
Mary Granville Delany (1700-1788) bloomed in her 70s, when she embarked on her life’s work—creating 985 life-size, three-dimensional, scientifically-correct botanical prints now held by the British Museum.
Her art work is created by cutting and gluing paper. Her life was quite remarkable, as you can read in parts 1 and 2 from laterbloomer.com
First wash on the lips of the petals, with my version of a colour chart. (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson)
I have only recently added cadmium red to my palette, previously using Windsor red as my warm red. My recent rose is the first painting where I have experimented with it.
The cadmium pigments were part of the range of pigments that came into use during the 19th century, as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The Impressionists and other artists loved their richness. Monet used the cadmium colours, and I presume that he used cadmium red in this vibrant work.
Claude Monet Autumn Effect at Argenteuil [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsWindsor and Newton is the leading paint brand, and on their website they describe cadmium red as:
…… a very strong, warm and opaque red and in the early part of the 20th century became a natural replacement for the distinctive but toxic vermilion.
The article goes on to say, with a safety message further down:
The production of modern, high performance cadmium red is an expensive and lengthy process requiring only the purest raw materials to produce the best possible colour.
Transforming the cadmium metal into a usable pigment means it undergoes several carefully controlled chemical reactions and procedures using various ingredients including mineral acids, sodium sulphide flakes, water, and selenium. Towards the end of the process heating takes place to create the pigment and it is in this heating process that the quality and hue of the final pigment begins to form. The emerging pigment is then ground down into tiny particles – these grinding processes affect the way the pigment interacts with light. Fine particles have a good diffused reflection and produce a colour that is very strong and vibrant.
Safety
Cadmium itself is a heavy metal and is toxic but cadmium pigments are not classified as dangerous for use in line with EC classification. The level of soluble cadmium in the pigments is so low that no hazard warnings are needed and they pose no greater risk after swallowing or breathing in than other pigment types. Cadmium pigments are restricted for certain applications but this restriction does not apply to artists’ colours.
The part about the EU is interesting, as apparently the use of cadmiums in paints are under review, and may be withdrawn.
I did a colour chart of sorts to work out my tonal values. (Note to self: more attention to the colours in the ext rose!)
First wash on the lips of the petals, with my version of a colour chart. (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson)
The finished first wash.
(Photo and image copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
The final work (which has just been put into my Etsy shop)
The finished painting (Photo and image copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)
So, what did I find?
It was a much softer colour than I anticipated. However, I was using it as a wash, and colour in a wash dries lighter. As well, I was careful not to overdo the intensity and controlled the amount of pigment I was using. Another factor could be that it was brand of paint, Holbein, that was new to me. The same labelled paint can be quite different across brands. This was Cadmium Red Light which could be another factor.
I loved the softness of the rose, but it lacked oomph. The cad red wasn’t able to give me that, so I added a glaze of quinacridone magenta in parts. You can see it most clearly in the central shadow, just above the leaves. Also, it was difficult to get an intense dark.
I was pleased that red washes helped to cut back the intensity of the yellow that you can see in the middle photo. The glow is still there, but not quite the eerie alien glow it was before. That tells me that it is possible to fix up mistakes in watercolour!
I was delighted at how well the paint mixed on the paper. usually I make up a mixture of the paint I am going to use, and I did do this for the green. However I wanted to experiment with dropping in French ultramarine to darken the red. Often, on the damp paper I washed in the red, dropped in some French ultramarine and then more red over the top. I think it worked well. It allowed the watercolour to do its magic.
Letting watercolour work its magic! (Photo and image copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)
Yellow will be my next rose colour. I do very little work in yellow, which has a reputation as being a very difficult colour to paint. So, more learning ahead!
I have been thinking about colour mixing lately. I am trying to be more systematic with it, because my nature is quite slap dash. That’s close enough, I’m going with my gut instinct (i.e. being lazy!) ~ they’re the phrases that go through my head.
Then I read Jane Blundell’s blog and see all the fantastic experiments she does with so many different brands of paints, and I want to be systematic like her! I looked at Shevaun Doherty’s Instagram post where she identified a huge range of colours in her divine lavender, and I want to see colours like she does! But I know I never will be like that.
However, I can try to understand colour, and I can be far more systematic in thinking about colour before I start to paint.
Colour is a very interesting, but complex topic. There are many things to think about and it would be easy, for someone else 🙂 to overthink it. Overthinking colour is not my problem! (See the first paragraph.) YouTube is over endowed with videos about the colour wheel, how to mix colours, instructional videos and so on. However, I recently found Robert Gamblin’s videos. He is an oil painter and has a company that produces oil paints in America.
His series of videos that have really helped me understand the colour wheel because his colour wheel is 3D, instead of the usual 2D ones. That allows him to explain tones, hues, chromatic intensity etc while demonstrating it visually on his wheel. He calls it “Navigating colour space”. He also uses his 3D model to explain why the palettes of the Old Masters (Rembrandt etc), the Impressionists (Monet, Renoir etc) and modern painters are so different. Worth a look if you are interested in understanding more about colour.
There are three videos to be watched in order.
What did you think of the videos? Do you have any recommendations for me to watch or websites that are useful?
Colour chart around the tonal drawing (Image and photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
The joy with watercolour is the glorious colours you can create. Pigments interact with each other as weak as the water to create the most marvellous effects ~ well, that is the hoped for outcome. It is easy to end up with a mud~like mess. I have painted with watercolour for a number of years now, but still feel as if there is a huge amount for me to learn. So, I signed up for Helen Burrow’s workshop on colour mixing.
I have been to some of Helen’s workshops before, and love her teaching style. I was not disappointed with this one, largely because she structured the three days so that each exercise used skills from the exercise before. She encouraged us to play ~ it’s only paint and paper. As adults we rarely allow ourselves to experiment. It is so easy to let the end product dominate, forcing ourselves to stick to the tried and true.
The very first activity was playing. After drawing circles on the paper we dropped in paints of different colours. None of them had to be perfect, they were simply pompoms. It was wonderful to see how they ran into each other and produced new colours. You really loosen up when you are doing seven, eight, nine of them. While the original vibrant colours are stunning, look at the colours that are mixed where they meet. There are some interesting purples and neutrals here.
My colour mixing pompoms ~ beautiful vibrant colours (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)
For the next exercise Helen directed us to draw three “petunias”, to which we added specific colours. The first triad was cobalt blue, aureolin and permanent rose, all transparent and clean. The second triad was alizarin crimson, windsor yellow and phthalo blue, again transparent but rich and jewel-like. The third included opaque colours, cadmium red, cadmium yellow and cerulean blue.
The three “petunia” triads (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
Do you have a favourite combination of colours?
At last, I was developing a deeper understanding of the different colours. It is important to know how the qualities of paints [transparent, warm/cool, staining, their bias etc] to know which ones to use when. For example, transparent colours will create darker hues than opaque ones.
Our last activity for Day #1 was to choose our own triads and experiment. I especially loved the combination of quinacridone gold, viridian and my own purple (cobalt and quinacridone magenta). The mix is in the bottom left corner. BTW the four big blobs in the centre and right are wet on wet, the three down the left side are wet on dry. The last photo is of our show and tell at the end of the day, showing great diversity between artists.
(Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
(Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
(Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
Day #2 and we were raring to go. There was more colour mixing as a warm up. Then Helen asked us to compare Windsor and Newton sepia with Daniel Smith sepia. They are probably the leading watercolour paint brands. She was encouraging us to look at the different brands because colours are not consistent across brands. Sepia is a good example. The W and N is blacker and duller than the DS, which seems to have more warmth and depth to it.
The next challenge was to create our own sepia! With some help from Helen I used burnt sienna and French ultramarine to produce a lovely soft grey.
Then we became a little more botanical, as we traced a photo of a rose and transferred the tracing to watercolour paper. Then, using our sepia mix we did a tonal drawing of the rose. The photo shows the finished tonal drawing, with a spray of yellow as I began the next part of adding a little colour to the painting.
(Image and photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)More colour added to the tonal drawing (Image and photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
So, by Day #3 we were ready to do a rose painting. It sounds daunting, but as Helen’s previous activities had lead us to this point, we had the confidence!
It was time to put the knowledge from the previous two days to use ~ looking at the photo to see what colours there were, understanding the value of those colours (was my selection enough of a range of values along the grey scale?), thinking about warm and cool colours, complimentary colours. Then to mixing. You can see by the colour chart that I had to work my way through a few mixes. The new gamboge and permanent rose, top right, was the first mix, then I worked my way to quinacridone gold and magenta. It is the quiz gold that gives the painting its glow. There are other mixes too, a cool, soft blue for the cast shadows and the warm quinacridone magenta and sepia mix for other shadows.
Colour chart around the tonal drawing (Image and photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
A new piece of paper, a new tracing of the rose and I was in heaven, gently moving around each petal to let the paint and water work their magic.
First wash on the rose. (Image and photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
There’s still a way to go, but I know that the colours are working and that I have put down a good foundation. I think I like painting roses!
I am so excited! On Thursday we confirmed that our exhibition for Beckler’s Botanical Bounty is going to be held in February, 2018, at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
The magnificent foyer of the Art Gallery of Ballarat (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2016)
Typical of the Outback habitats we explore for our plants. (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2014)
For 6 years we have headed up to Menindee, an hour out of Broken Hill, Outback New South Wales. An exhibition has always been a priority for us and Ballarat was always at the top of our wish list. It is a wonderful, innovative gallery, with a strong interest in botanic and natural history art. Last year we finalised our exhibition proposal and sent it off to the Curator at Ballarat. And that’s where we have ended up!!
I must admit, as I was standing in the room our exhibition will be in, I thought “What have we done? Can we actually pull this off?” And then I thought “Of course we can, because we have a whole swag of supportive and knowledgeable people behind us!”
It seems like a long time away, but we have lots to do. I will certainly keep you informed. For now my first task is to get my painting finished!
Cullen cinereum, close up of an area, to show the stalks going in front and behind the leaves.
My work space in the Civic Hall (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2015)
Don’t we just love to see how creative projects are progressing? I have been following the progress Kate’s Cloth of Heaven, a beautiful quilt she is making as a special present. So, I thought you might like to follow the progress of my painting of Cullen cinereum.
Often I draw feathers, which I sell in my Etsy shop. I am also working on other, looser watercolour paintings. However my C. cinereum painting is a larger, more precise botanic art painting that I am painting for a special project.
I am one of a group of botanic artists who go to Menindee each year to collect plants that were first collected in the area by Dr Hermann Beckler, a member of the Burke and Wills Expedition of 1860. Our aim is to collect all 120 of his specimens and then do a painting of each of them. You can find out more about the Beckler’s Botanical Bounty Project on our website.
This October was the fifth time the Fella and I had journeyed up there. I was looking specifically for this plant, C. cinereum. Beckler collected four plants in the Cullen genus. I have collected and painted the other three, now it was time to search for this one. Below are my paintings of the first three.
Cullen palladium (Image copyright: Anne Lawson)
Cullen discolor (Image copyright: Anne Lawson)
Cullen australasicum (Image copyright: Anne Lawson 2015)
I found it easily enough, on the dry bed of Lake Pamamaroo. So I collected my specimens [and yes, we have permits to do this] and set up my work space back in Menindee’s Civic Hall.
Cullen cinereum growing (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2015)
My work space in the Civic Hall (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2015)
The dry bed of Lake Pamamaroo (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2015)
The first stage of painting is not any art work at all, but a lot of research. Accurate identification of the plant is crucial and that means working through the species key provided in reference books ~ what makes this plant Cullen cinereum and not C. discolor or one of the other species? What are the features of the genus? As well there are structural things to look at ~ how does the leaf join to the stem; are all the leaflets the same size? What is it’s habit and what identifying features do I need to include in the drawing?
Some artists move on to doing microscopic work and produce delightful drawings of the tiny parts of a plant. Unfortunately I am not very good at doing this. I do enlarged drawings of different sections, such as leaf joints and flower buds. Such drawings help me understand the plant and are a great reference.
Once I have a good understanding of the specimen before me, I begin a measured line drawing. Botanic art is done at size. Any enlargement, such as microscopic work, is indicated, for example x2, x10 and so on. Tracing paper is great for line drawings as you can rub out as often as you like and not destroy the paper.
The line drawing on tracing paper (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2015)
Line drawing on tracing paper
Tonal drawing on tracing paper
This time I also managed to get a tonal drawing done. I laid another piece of tracing paper over the line drawing and shaded in the darker areas I could see on the specimen. Aside from colour matching, that’s all I have time to do up in Menindee. [You may remember the story of the little ladybird that hatched on the plant as I was drawing it.]
So, back home and it was time to transfer the line drawing to the good sheet of paper. I am using Fabriano watercolour paper, 300gsm. At this stage I had to consider the composition of the painting. I am fortunate that the specimen I used had a very nice shape to it. You can see the nice flow in the line drawing. It has a gentle curve that nestles into the corner of the paper and then the strong diagonal across the page. As well this composition shows the identifying feature of the habit ~ that it grows along the ground a little way and then becomes more upright.
To trace it I went over the drawing on the back of the tracing paper with pencil. After placing the tracing on the good paper I went over the whole drawing again to transfer the pencil on the back to the paper. Your really get to know the drawing well when you do it this way!
The drawing traced onto the good paper with some of the washes on the leaves
The next step begins, laying down washes on the leaves, and the tonal drawing comes into its own. I have lots of photos, but they don’t guide me at this early stage. It would be too easy to get carried away and not leave the lighter sections.
First washes on the leaves
This is where I am up to. Most of the leaves have their first wash. I have begun to add in some of the stems and flower stalks as I need to know whether they go in front or behind the leaves.
Close up of an area, to show the stalks going in front and behind the leaves.
The first step was to find the plants on Beckler’s original list. (Please remember that we collect plants with permits. It is illegal to remove plants without it. We also collect according to strict herbarium guidelines, which say that only 10% of a plant population may be collected.)
Out in the field (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
Then the plant needed to be identified. We are so lucky to have Andrew, a botanist who is very familiar with the plants in Kinchega National Park. Without him we would still be floundering around!
We use a written key to help identification and often a microscopic is necessary. To give you an example for my plant one of the distinguishing features was that the pod protruded a specific number of millimetres from the calyx (the green sheath that surrounds the flower). This was much easier to measure under the microscope.
Identifying plants (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
This year I was looking for the fourth species in a genus. I have found and painted the other three, but this one Cullen cinereum had been elusive. But, oh happy days, this year there was a good size colony growing out on the dry bed of Lake Pamamaroo.
The dried bed of Lake Pamamaroo (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
Cullen cinereum growing in Lake Pamamaroo (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
Cullen cinereum growing in Lake Pamamaroo (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
Fortunately there were lots of plants and I was able to collect my 10%. We collect four specimens which we press. One goes to the National Herbarium of Victoria, because that is where Becker’s original collection is held. One goes to the NSW Herbarium, because we are collecting in NSW. The third is for our project’s reference collection and the fourth is the plant we actually draw.
Cullen cinereum growing quite happily in a take away coffee cup! (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
The pressed specimen for the National Herbarium of Victoria. (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
Close up of C. cinereum (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
Close up of C. cinereum (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
The next step in the process varies from artist to artist. Many of the others do beautiful microscopic drawings, dissections showing male and female parts, cross-sections of seed capsules and so on. I find that very hard to do, so have to find other ways to tell the plant’s story.
I did a detailed drawing of the C. cinereum on tracing paper. Tracing paper is smoother than paper and the surface doesn’t mark when I rub out. It also allows me to transfer the drawing to the good paper more easily. Then I do a tonal drawing on another piece of tracing paper, over the top of the line drawing. This gives me a good reference when I get home. No matter how good the photos are, they are never quite the same as what you see. I don’t have any close ups of those drawings but I can show them to you when I get home.
My desk, showing the line drawing on tracing paper (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2015)
The last step for me was to do the colour charts. Then it was Friday, the last day in the Hall; it was time to press my plant and clean up, hoping that I have enough reference material to work on at home!
Cullen pallidum (image and photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)
“Botanic artists make science visible.” That’s not just a quote from my friend and tutor, Mali Moir, but also a tenant of her art work. Drop over to her website to see the beautiful work that she does.
Last week was National Science Weekend I thought I would draw out the connection between botanic art and science a little more.
As a genre botanic art is more than flower paintings or still life. The main goal of a painting is scientific accuracy so that the plant can be recognised and distinguished from other species. However, it is an art form and should be as visually pleasing as possible. The elements of all good paintings, especially composition, very important. I like the way that it is expressed on the Botanic Gardens Conservation International’s website
Many great artists, from the seventeenth-century Dutch masters to the French Impressionists, such as Monet and Renoir, to modernists like Georgia O’Keeffe, portrayed flowers; but since their goal was aesthetic, accuracy was not always necessary or intended. In the hands of a talented botanical artist, however, the illustration goes beyond its scientific requirements.
The Golden Age of botanic art was at the time of the great explorations, when the world was being opened up. Voyages usually included naturalists and artists, who had the responsibility to collect and record the flora and fauna that were seen in these new lands. There was always the search for the next big thing, like tea, and spices. It was this search that drove many expeditions. After the expedition collected plant specimens were eventually housed in herbaria, only available to a few. The paintings of plants could be printed into books which were more accessible.
Not co-incidentally it was the time of many important developments in science. Linnaeus had revolutionised the botanic and zoological worlds by creating a classification system that worked at all levels. It allowed the newly discovered plants and animals to be systematically collected and recorded.
The botanists and artists were an important part of the voyages that were being made. There have been many fine botanic artists over the centuries, but I will show you two.
Sydney Parkinson accompanied Joseph Banks on Cook’s voyage in the Endeavour in 1770. Parkinson died of dysentery on the journey, but back in England his illustrations were used to create Bank’s Florilegium. He was also the first European to create images of Australian Aborigines. Unfortunately there was a lengthy dispute between Banks and Parkinson’s brother on the return to London.
When the Endeavour returned to England in 1772, a dispute arose between Joseph Banks and Sydney’s brother, Stanfield Parkinson. As his employer, Banks claimed rights to Sydney’s drawings, papers and collections made on the voyage. Stanfield claimed that Sydney had willed them to his family. Banks lent the Parkinson family Sydney’s journal and drawings with instructions that they were not to be published, however Stanfield disregarded this and arranged for A Journal of a voyage to the South Seas to be printed from Sydney’s account of the voyage. Banks managed to suppress Stanfield’s publication until the official account of the voyage, edited by John Hawkesworth, appeared. In return for Parkinson’s papers, Banks paid Stanfield Parkinson 500 pounds for balance of wages due to Sydney, but the dispute did not end there. Stanfield further accused Banks of retaining items collected by Sydney which were intended for his relatives. Stanfield Parkinson was declared insane soon after the publication of Sydney Parkinson’s Journal and died in an asylum. [From the NSW State Library]
By Sydney Parkinson and John Frederick Miller [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsThe accurate detail from Parkinson’s painting of Banksia ericifolia allows the plant to be distinguished from other Banksia species.
The second botanic artist is Ferdinand Bauer. He was the artist on Matthew Flinders’ expedition of 1801 in the Investigator, to survey the coast of New Holland. Bauer worked with the naturalist Robert Brown. Flinders had orders to allow them time on land to do their work and they were given a specially constructed room on the ship to house their specimens. Unfortunately the ship was leaky and damp.
Bauer wan’t able to complete his paintings on board because of the mould and damp. He created intricate colour charts that helped him to work on the paintings back in England. He stayed in Australia for a couple of years after the voyage, bringing home over 2,000 drawings.
By Ferdinand Bauer (1760–1826) [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsLook at the amazing detail that Bauer has achieved in his Banksia coccinea.
Naturally botanic art has changed over time. Perhaps the Art has become more prominent than the Science. But there are still many artists who do the detailed dissections and microscopic work. It is not something that I am very good at but I love to marvel at the work of those who can. Even without the microscopic detail the art work aims to have the identifying features of the plant. Jump over to the website of the Botanic Art Society of Australia to see some beautiful modern botanic art, such as Helina Steele’s stunning eucalypts.
And so to the question of photography. I’m sure you have been wondering why do we still need to identify plants from paintings when photography is so good these days. There are some artists, like Niki Simpson, who use digital photos to create works of art.
It is true that many identifications would be done through photographs, although examination of the real thing would be best of all. Art has a few advantages. Again, let me quote from the Botanic Gardens Conservation International
Although photography and perhaps particularly microscopic photography, may help inform botanical work, there is certainly still a need for botanical illustration because it can represent clearly what may not easily be seen in a photograph. Outline drawings for example, distinguish elements that cannot easily be made out using reflected light alone. Also, the composition of the image can be manipulated more fully in illustration, and features displayed together which may not easily be shown simultaneously in nature.
While much of my work that I have been showing you lately isn’t true botanic art. So I will leave you with one of mine. It is a plant I have painted as part of a project, Beckler’s Botanical Bounty, a project that has a strong scientific component.
Cullen pallidum (image and photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)
Cullen pallidum (image and photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)
I have already told you that my painting of Cullen pallidum was accepted into the Art of Botanical Art Exhibition. (Don’t know what I am talking about? This post will explain more about my painting.) Today I was able to see it hanging there, amongst world-class botanical art works.
Cullen pallidum, hanging in the Exhibition
Do I look happy? And proud? 🙂
Today I didn’t have time to explore the works properly. I am going back, and then I will tell you more about the other works. However, if you live in Melbourne or nearby, don’t wait for my review. Wander into the Exhibition, but be prepared to be amazed!
The Art of Botanical Illustration
Domain House, Dallas Brooks Drive, Melbourne (Up the Shrine end of the Botanical Gardens)
It finishes on 24 November, 10 – 4 pm weekdays and 10 – 6 pm weekends.
Anne Lawson Art 