Wrenaissance Art

I’ve added some volumetric shading to this illustration and painted the bromeliad’s stripes on top. Yikes! That large stripe on the rear, short leaf is very alizarin crimson and jumps right out of the page. I’ll have to correct in the next painting session, before the alizarin stains the paper too strongly.

Here you can see the first flushes of color added to the new bromeliad illustration. I’ve decided to include the pot, as its brilliant red glaze balances the red bracts so well.

I’ve started a new botanical illustration of a bromeliad. The leaves are a much warmer green and stronger purple than the last plant.

At last, the painting of the bromeliad that I started during the illustration extension course at the Jardim Botânico is finished! It required working from sketches painted from life, and photos taken during the class.

Like almost everybody else in Houston this July, I rushed to see Lois the Corpse Flower bloom at the Museum of Natural Science. Or rather, to watch her in bud, as she didn’t actually bloom until 3 weeks after the initial announcement. The crowds were not too bad if you went at 7 am, as [...]

The soft, velvety “brain” shape of celosia is a real challenge! Is it opera, alizarin, permanent rose?

Progress report on a botanical illustration of a bromeliad.

(Poster image courtesy of Paulo Ormindo and the Escola Nacional Botânica Tropical) Paulo Ormindo at the Research Institute of the Rio de Janeiro Jardim Botânico emailed me this news update about the 2010 extension courses in botanical illustration offered at the Institute’s school. All classes are held at the school on Rua Pacheco Leão 2040 [...]

Think of stippling as pizzicato for the watercolor brush.

After pumping up the orange and blue values in the bracts and petals, I found the blue petal in front had lost its values. A few touches of Chinese white in the highlights and a stroke of ultramarine in the foremost shadow, and the painting is finished!