Thursday 24 June 2010

Wild thing

Grass vetchling ~ Lathyrus nissolia

I finally found some time this week to make a (little bit) larger painting. It's only bigger in paper size, not in subject. This is a Grass Vetchling (almost sounds like some sort of bird). The Latin name is Lathyrus nissolia and its a rare and protected plant in the Netherlands. As you can see the flowers are very similar to other peas. The biggest difference is the foliage. It's a really grassy plant and it doesn't climb like most Lathyrus' do.

It's really thin and there's a lot of white left on the page, as you can see. It was difficult though. The stems are long and thin and I'm not very good at painting straight lines. So I took it really slow. I did manage to give all the lines a shadow part. And for the flowers I got the colour right. The pods were so nice to paint, that was really fun :)

Now I hear you all ask me "Where does this lovely vetchling grow???" Well, I'll tell you.... roadsides, grain fields, woodlands and dykes. Sunny, warm, more or less open places slightly moist, moderately fertile to fertile, slightly acid to often chalky, grassy soil. Plenty of places like that but it's a rare little beauty nonetheless :(

I wish I had this near my house so I could paint a bigger painting with a few sprigs, dancing together. But this must do for now. A lovely elegant wild thing.

15 comments:

A Brush with Color said...

Yes, indeed, a lovely elegant wild thing--I definitely agree with that. You have such a delicate touch. Beautiful, Sigrid!

Sigrid Frensen said...

Awwwww, thanks Sue!

AtelierBrigitte said...

Prachtig werk - ik wist niet dat dit hier gewoon in het 'wild' groeit.

Sigrid Frensen said...

Zeldzame verschijning :)

Lisa B. said...

I agree, very elegant, like the leaves and the flowers and pods are all dancing gracefully in the breeze. I'm not familiar with the leaves of the pea plant family being so thin and grass-like, I'm used to the much broader leaf of the edible pea plant, it's very interesting to see the variations. I also wanted to thank you, that because of your last post, where you shared your informative tips on working with graphite, I went and bought a blending stump and have been using it a lot, I really like the effect. Thanks again!

Elizabeth said...

I love both the painting and the writing. How brave you are to embrace such a difficult subject and carry it off so well! Grace and beauty.

Sigrid Frensen said...

Lisa and Elizabeth, thank you both so much :))

JANE MINTER said...

very beautiful sigrid ... we have something very similar here ..i wonder if it is the same .

Anonymous said...

Lovely artwork. I am an artist and gardener in Canada.

Sigrid Frensen said...

@ Jane ~ Well, you live in Italy and I believe it also grows there. So it could, I guess ;)
@ Three dogs ~ Thank you! I had a look at your blog. I love the wonderful photos of the flowers and old houses.

Sara Hammond said...

I have written a book about a horticultural artuist in 1806 England. I love the feeling the paintings give. Thank you for your blog!

Kathleen Rietz said...

It's beautiful. I love to see the way your work has matured and now shows a confidence I do not recall reflected in past works. Beautiful work, Sigrid.

Linda Miller, Artist said...

Wonderful work.......I can see such a difference from even six months ago!

This is lovely as well as the wonderful graphite drawing that follows.

Linda Miller

Linda Miller, Artist said...

This is wonderful - the composition is so graceful and I love the color!

The graphite drawing that follow is outstanding. Wish we didn't live so far from on another - I would love to sit and paint with you.

Linda

Jala Pfaff said...

Very elegant.