Category: Plants

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Drawing Flower Art Glass Ink and watercolor wash Painting Plants Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Gone Wild With Wildflowers (and Watercolor) Part 2

Purple wildflowers in purple glass vase, ink & watercolor 8x5"
Purple wildflowers in purple glass vase, ink & watercolor 8×5″

This was one of my favorites of all the wildflowers (see previous post for the wildflowers’ back story, which had such a variety of parts, from the pea-like pods to its spiky green leaves, plus I love purple.

Big yellow wildflowers on stalks, ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Big yellow wildflowers on stalks, ink & watercolor, 8×5″

Another curious plant with a variety of features and quite vibrant in color.

Yellow spikey flower with photo
Yellow spikey flower with photo

Here it is above in real life (though a bit blurry) with its portrait.

Gentle white blossomed wildflowers, ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Gentle pinky-white blossomed wildflowers, ink & watercolor, 8×5″

These were very delicate.

Gentle pinky-white wildflowers with photo
Gentle pinky-white wildflowers with photo

I had to take an allergy pill halfway through the day because all the wildflowers were making me sneeze.

California Golden Poppies, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
California Golden Poppies, ink & watercolor, 5×8″

The first attempt at the poppies above came out nice and fresh but my pen was running out of ink so I drew over the lines with another pen and then wasn’t crazy about the composition so I sketched them again (below).

California Poppies, first attempt, ink & watercolor 8x5"
California Poppies, #2, ink & watercolor 8×5″

I liked the composition better. Since this is our California state flower, it deserved an encore anyway. If you know the names of any of the flowers, let me know and I’ll update the captions.

Categories
Drawing Flower Art Glass Ink and watercolor wash Painting Plants Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Gone Wild With Wildflowers, Part 1

Bachelors Buttons (I think), ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Bachelors Buttons (I think), ink & watercolor, 8×5″

Just days before the city mowed down all the “dangerous” wildflowers on Carlson Boulevard for the second time, finally killing them, I walked along the narrow median strip with cars zooming by, and snipped specimens of each to paint. (I previously wrote here about why they were dangerous. They grew back after that first trimming.)

Pink Wildflowers, ink and watercolor, 5x8"
Pink Wildflowers, ink and watercolor, 5×8″
Pink Wildflower sketch with photo
Pink wildflower sketch with photo

I took them home and went wild, putting them in pretty bottles and vases, then sketching and painting them all day long.

Pink & Yellow Wildflowers, ink and watercolor, 5x8"
Pink & Yellow Wildflowers, ink and watercolor, 5×8″
Pink and yellow wildflowers with photo
Pink and yellow wildflowers with photo

My goal was to make free and fresh sketches of each flower that captured its personality while keeping composition in mind.

Little Daisy-Like Wildflowers, ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Little Daisy-Like Wildflowers, ink & watercolor, 8×5″
Little Daisy-Like Wildflowers with photo, ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Little Daisy-Like Wildflowers with photo

I postponed posting because of the time it would take to prepare the many sketches, scans and photos from that glorious day. I finally made the time; I didn’t want to be posting spring wildflowers in the Fall!

Lacy Wildflowers in Blue Bottle, ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Lacy Wildflowers in Blue Bottle, ink & watercolor, 8×5″
Lacy Wildflowers in Blue Bottle with photo
Lacy Wildflowers in Blue Bottle with photo

Do you know the names of any of these flowers? If you do, please leave a comment and tell me and I’ll change the captions with the correct names.

There are many more wildflower sketches to come, which I will post in Part 2.

Categories
Drawing Gardening Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Painting Places Plants Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Walnut Creek

Ruth Bancroft Gardens: Beyond the “Private, No Entry” Signs

Ruth Bancroft Gardens Old Barn, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Ruth Bancroft Gardens Old Barn, ink & watercolor, 5×8″

My plein air group was given the great privilege of being able to go beyond the chained off, “Private Property. No Entrance” signs to explore the property where Mrs. Bancroft and other family members still live. There are old barns like the one above and other outbuildings as well as a log cabin, a chalet and a beautiful Japanese style home.

1970s Muscle Cars Resting in the Shade and Dust
1970s Muscle Cars Resting in the Shade and Dust Behind the Garden

The Ruth Bancroft Gardens in Walnut Creek began as a 400-acre fruit farm in the 1880s developed by Hubert Howe Bancroft, a famous historian and publisher whose book collection is now part of UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library.

Bancroft Garden Lilly Pond and Dragonflies, ink & watercolor 5x8"
Bancroft Garden Lilly Pond and Dragonflies, ink & watercolor 5×8″

The farm was passed down through the generations, and much of the land was sold off for housing development. In 1971 the last walnut orchard on the property was cut down, and Ruth’s husband, Phillip Bancroft, offered her three acres to begin a new garden using her large collection of succulents.

Giant Agave, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Giant Agave, ink & watercolor, 5×8″

The garden also has collections of aloes, agaves, yuccas, and echeverias. Aeonium ‘Glenn Davidson’, the first succulent in Ruth’s collection, is still growing in the garden.

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Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Painting Places Plants Richmond Annex Sketchbook Pages

Dangerous Wildflowers on Carlson Boulevard

Wildflowers on Carlson Boulevard, ink & watercolor 5x8"
Wildflowers on Carlson Boulevard, ink & watercolor 5×8″

When the two-year long repaving project on the one-mile stretch of Carlson Boulevard from El Cerrito to Richmond Annex was finally completed, someone planted wildflower seeds in the dirt-filled center dividers. The ugly, urban street took on new life as the wildflowers bloomed into a gorgeous riot of color. There were little white ones and fluffy yellows, brilliant orange California poppies, and my favorites, the blue bachelor buttons and tall lavender lupines that stood (note past tense here) three feet high.

I’m glad I spent a lovely hour enjoying sketching them because the next day work crews came through and HACKED them all down. The neighborhood email newsletter was abuzz with people horrified at the destruction.

Then we found out why. There was a serious car accident and a couple of near misses because the flowers grew so high that you couldn’t see oncoming traffic on the other side of street when crossing or making turns.  It was true; even in my sketch you can’t see the street on the other side of the center divider because the flowers completely hid it.

Happily, new, completely different wildflowers have now sprouted, and hopefully they won’t be so dangerous and will be left to bloom in peace.

Categories
Art supplies Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Plants

Standing Tall in a Moleskine

Succulents Along the Walk, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Succulents Along the Walk, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

To shake things up a bit I thought I’d try a watercolor Moleskine watercolor sketchbook this time instead of binding a new journal. These sketches are the first in the Moleskine from a walk in my neighborhood on a sunny winter day.

A few spreads into the Moleskine, I’m liking the paper but hating the stupid, floppy, too-wide landscape format. Why, oh why does Moleskine refuse to bind a watercolor book on the long size in portrait format! Brenda Swenson had a clever solution: she bought a very large watercolor Moleskine and sawed off half to make one the right size! Here’s someone else who had hers sliced at the local photocopy shop.

Succulents 2, ink & wat5ercolor, 7x5"
Succulents 2, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

The spike on this plant was about 15 feet tall but I didn’t think through how to make it look that way, and since it was in ink, it is what it is. The stalk should have gotten skinnier as it got further away instead of looking like a fat asparagus.

Categories
Food sketch Gouache Ink and watercolor wash Painting Plants Sketchbook Pages

From Tree to Table: Fig Bruschetta, Fig Tree and the Book

Grilled Fig Bruschetta table card, ink & gouache, 5x7"
Grilled Fig Bruschetta table card, ink & gouache, 5x7"

At the book publication party for my friend Barbara’s wonderful new book, From Tree to Table: Growing Backyard Fruit Trees in the Pacific Maritime Climate I decided to make one of the recipes in the book: Grilled Fig Bruschetta. But first I sketched a few of the figs (above) before cooking them. I used a blank note card because I wanted to stand it on the table with the food. But since it wasn’t watercolor paper, the paint just sunk in. I switched to gouache which worked great and was huge fun.

Fig Bruschetta on the table
Fig Bruschetta on the table

I’m not a confident cook, but the recipe sounded simple and very delicious: figs tossed in olive oil and fresh thyme and broiled, then set atop a toasted baguette spread with gorgonzola dolce cheese (soft, sweet blue cheese), and then drizzled with a bit of honey and a sprinkle of thyme.

They were fabulous! A perfect combination of flavors and everyone loved them. I’m glad I took a picture (above) before they were all gone. I served them on plates I made many years ago when I was a potter.

Baby Fig Tree Growing Bigger, ink & watercolor & rubber stamp, 7x5"
Baby Fig Tree Grows, ink & watercolor & stamp, 7x5"

This is the baby fig tree that Barbara gave me last spring. I’ve sketched its progress from stick, to growing three leaves to now (above) with three skinny trunks. I’m going to use the pruning section in From Tree to Table (and a little help from Barbara) to learn how to prune it so it just has one trunk, once it drops its leaves for the winter….if winter ever comes…we’re still having warm summer-like weather half the time and fruit trees are so confused.

Categories
Art supplies Drawing Flower Art Ink and watercolor wash Painting Plants Plein Air Sketchbook Pages

Lavatera Clippings In Amaretti Cookie Can

Lavatera Clippings in Amaretti Cookie Can, ink & watercolor,7x5"
Lavatera Clippings in Amaretti Cookie Can, ink & watercolor,7x5"

I love this old can that once held Amaretti cookies. After trimming some branches off the giant Lavatera bush by my deck, I decided to paint the cuttings. The cookie can was the first thing I spotted that would hold water and flowers.

I used the new Schmincke watercolors palette I recently bought on sale at Wet Paint. I love the palette but after a few trials, added and replaced some colors which I’ll write about next time. The Schmincke pan paints worked beautifully in the hot sun, releasing juicy flowing paint with just a touch of a wet brush.

I think the sketch captured the feeling of heat and strong light and the funky little table with a dirty glass top looks just like itself.

Categories
Flower Art Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Outdoors/Landscape Painting Places Plants Sketchbook Pages

Water Lilies Part II: In Sun and Shade at the Cemetery

Lily in the Sun, ink & watercolor, 5x5"
Lily in the Sun, ink & watercolor, 5x5"

When I was sketching the lily pond at the cemetery the only camera I had with me was my iPhone. I took a few photos even though I didn’t expect them to come out well (which they didn’t since I was too far away). But I was able to get enough information from them to do two more little studies when I got home of the lilies in sun (above) and in shade (below).

Lily in the Shade, ink & watercolor, 5x5"
Lily in the Shade, ink & watercolor, 5x5"

Sunday, just one week later, I returned to the cemetery with my good camera, looking forward to taking some good photos from which to paint and continue my water lily investigation. Sadly our recent warm weather had dried up half of the pond. I couldn’t get a single good photo and was uninspired to sketch the tangles that remained.

I’m surprised the cemetery owners don’t replenish the water in the pond. Although we’re supposed to conserve water, I know they water the lawns or they’d all be brown since it doesn’t rain in the summer here. What’s a few more gallons to maintain the lovely water lilies?

I guess I’ll have to wait until next spring or summer to continue my lily studies unless I can find another lily pond nearby.

Categories
Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Plants Sketchbook Pages

Baby Fig Tree Grows Three Leaves

Baby Fig Tree Grows Three Leaves, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Baby Fig Tree Grows Three Leaves, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

You might remember seeing my previous sketch of my baby fig tree here when it was just a little stick. Now it has three leaves. Yay! It was fun to sit on the sidewalk in front of my house and sketch (except for the occasional ant that tried to annoy me). That reminded me of being a little kid sitting on the sidewalk playing jacks for hours. I used to be pretty good at it. I wonder if anyone still plays jacks and if they’re still made out of metal.

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Art supplies Art theory Drawing Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Painting Plants Sketchbook Pages

Last Day of EDiM: “Fresh” Hydrangeas and L.L. Bean “Flashlight” Hat

Baby Hydrangea for "Something Fresh" EDM #112, ink & Watercolor, 6x4.5"
Baby Hydrangea for EDM #112: Fresh, ink & Watercolor, 6"x4.5"

I’d never been able to sketch this hydrangea plant before because once the teensy little buds open they shed piles of equally teensy little petals and make a big mess. But this one was so fresh I was able to cut and draw it without the mess. (Although it did end up making a mess anyway when my cat ate one of the leaves and then delivered it later to the rug.)

EDM #120 Flashlight (L.L. Bean Pathfinder Flashlight Hat), ink & watercolor
EDM #120 Flashlight (Hat), ink & watercolor

The cue was to draw a flashlight. My favorite flashlight is my wonderful L.L. Bean Pathfinder Cap. It has two LED lights in the brim. One points straight down and is perfect for lighting your sketchbook when painting when it’s dark, and the other points ahead to light your path. You just squeeze a spot on the brim and it toggles between down, ahead or both. When painting in a dark pub it perfectly lit my sketchbook page but nobody could tell where the light was coming from. Someone came over to try to figure it out because it just looked like my page was illuminated.

The hat is sitting on a plaster “Planes of the Head” cast, a tool for learning how to really see and draw heads (good article about this here).

Although I wasn’t a faithful follower of  “Sketch Every Day in May,” it reinforced how much I enjoy drawing. Some of the cues sounded boring but I discovered that no matter how dull a subject may seem, drawing it rarely is.