Schwarzwalder

Zantedeschia 'Schwarzwalder', that's her name. I'm sure it's a she. All those delicious curves. And I think that her name doesn't suit her at all. Far too butch for how she looks. So let's just go for Calla. That's what everyone calls her anyway.

I made Calla for the 30 day challenge on Facebook. You can read more about it in a previous post. Because many people are very partial to "black" plants and flowers I decided to post this one here too. I did it this evening using watercolour and coloured pencils. Black colours are wonderful to mix and to paint with. So deep and rich.... hmmmm....

More bulbs!

I know I've just posted about the tulip mothers but when I uploaded it I saw that I forgot to tell you about my previous bulb painting. They are also tulip bulbs. Very different though. These are very small and have no babies. They are not as silky and shiny as the "Black Hero" bulbs. They are rougher and have the colour of cinnamon. I really love these small ones. They are botanical tulips and look a bit different from the "normal", popular tulips you see everywhere.

So here they are. 6 Small bulbs of Tulipa batalinii seedlings. The scan took away the roots and detail in the fluffy parts a bit but you get the idea.
Not so sure if I'll paint the flowers of them, or of the Black Heroes. I just love bulbs more then the flowers they produce. But... you never know...

Tulip Mothers

A week before Christmas I went to the garden-centre to buy some small stuff for Bertus. At school they make some Christmas arrangement each year from twigs, berries, sparkling ornaments, a candle and other things. So, to buy some bird ornaments and gold glitter stars, I went there and saw the corner with spring bulbs. All on sale now because it's really a bit too late to start planting them now. I found a bag with 5 tulip bulbs (50% off) of a tulip called "Black Hero". The flower was ok, and I saw that the bulbs had small green shoots. When I got home I took them out of the plastic bag and put them in a row in front of me. They all had small babies! So I decided to paint them all... the young mothers with their vibrant green sprouts.

My own little sprout made a gorgeous Christmas arrangement at school, BTW. So... I guess that makes 6 proud mums in total ;)

Sloe on Vellum

It has been a long time since I last painted on vellum. Two weeks ago I found my vellum again and thought it would be fun to paint something  on the calfskin. I rescued last Monday a branch of the Blackthorn in front of our house. Just before the big storm arrived. I love Sloe, the twigs with the thorns, the white flowers in spring and of course the berries in autumn.

It always takes a while to get used to painting on vellum again. It's so different from painting on paper because the paint sits on the surface and doesn't get absorbed. The result is more brilliant and warm. It's more alive. Maybe more on vellum soon...

Me in Tresoar

Next Sunday will be the opening of a very special little exhibition in Tresoar, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. Title of the exhibition is "Bloemenboek" (or "Blommeboek" in Frisian). It's all about the Florilegium painted by Franciscus de Geest in the 17th century in Leeuwarden. The book is all hand painted, never reproduced and very special. Normally it's being kept in Rome in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale but until the end of this year it is home again in Leeuwarden. Several months ago I was asked to participate in this event and I was so intrigued by the story behind the book and the time in which it was painted that I naturally offered my cooperation. Tresoar is the historical and literary centre of Friesland (a province in the North of the Netherlands). I had been there before with my mother to search for information about our ancestors (the archives are huge!).

This Spring the man behind this exhibition, Haye Bijlstra, came to my studio to make a short video of how I paint a botanical illustration. We went to Buitenpost where there is the Frisian Botanical Garden 'De Kruidhof'. For the film I chose to paint an apple blossom. Haye filmed me for four days while I painted. Of course it took at least 10 days more to finish it but it gives a nice idea of the process.
After the exhibition I'll post the film on my website but I can already show you the result of the painting. Of course the painting is in the exhibition too along with two other paintings done by yours truly. So, for now, here's the blossom of Malus domestica 'Reinette de Blenheim'.

Botanical Challenge

Every year in September our Botanical Artists Group on Facebook has a 30 days challenge. Normally I can't keep up with it and never end up with 30 paintings/drawings at the end of it. Dianne Sutherland organised this year's challenge. I'll try it too... again...

Because there were a lot of things going on here at my house this week, I already fell a bit behind. So for my first entry I painted not one but two things. A hip of Rosa moyesii 'Geranium' and Acorns from Bertus' harvest. Hopefully I can do two more tomorrow.

Whitecurrants

This weekend I painted a little string of pearls.

 

 

Blueberries

That's right... Blueberries... What you see here is my blueberry palette. Pretty eh? Too many colours though. In fact you can paint them with four colours. I just tried out several paints to pick the best combination. I can't remember exactly which ones I prefered in the end. I think it might have been French Ultramarine, Burnt Umber, Quinacridone Magenta and Mineral Violet or something like that. Perhaps I used some Hooker's Green for the shadows (mixed with the magenta it gives a really dark colour). As you can see I also added a little bit of white to mix nice pale colours with for the bloom. That is also something I tested. How to get the best bloom. I can't say it was with the white mixtures or with white from the paper. Both ways worked rather well. I know, this post is not very helpful.... Just wanted to show you the pretty palette and the tiny result of 5 delicious berries... Made just for fun....

Talking about fun... See what happens when you flip the photo of the palette:

It's watching you! ;)

 

Tulipa turkestanica

 

Tulipa turkestanica

It has been a long time since I last posted something. The only reason for that was that I just had nothing to post. I already wrote about the troubles I had with my arm in the previous post and it only got worse after that. The doctor concluded I had a golfer's elbow as well as a tennis elbow. No fun. I wasn't able to draw or paint for months. But now I finally got permission to paint again.

At the end of winter there's not much flowering but I found these lovely Tulipa turkestanica at the garden centre. I have them in my garden too but with this year's winter they were still in the ground. So I bought them again and could draw one.

I felt very rusty painting this after such a long time. But in the end it turned out ok. Just like the Sterappels I did last year, I did this in watercolour first and then enhanced it with coloured pencil. I really enjoy taking advantage of the best qualities of the different materials.

Sterappel

It has been a while again since my last post. Partially because I haven't painted much since my last blog. At least, not very botanical anyway. BUT now I have finished something that's worth sharing.
Some weeks ago I went to a nursery ("De Vrolijke Noot") of fruit trees and bushes. The owner gave me a cutting from one of his apple trees. The apple is named "Sterappel". That means "Star Apple" if you translate it. Stars, because the apple has very clear bright lenticels on the very dark red skin.
I posted the end result on Flickr and Facebook already and was very happy when Rosie Sanders complimented me on the painting. Rosie made a few years ago the famous Apple Book. She knows a lot about the different varieties and asked me what kind this is. I didn't know the English name of it. I only know the German, French and Dutch name. Later Rosie sent me a bit of more information about the apple: "I've looked it up in the National Apple Register and it seems that it is Reinette Rouge Étoilée, first described in 1830, provenance Belgium or the Netherlands. Has lots of synonyms including Sterappel and Sternrenette. Interesting!". 
What I do know is that this used to be a very popular apple in the Netherlands but has become very rare now. The problem with these apples is that it falls too early from the tree. Often it hasn't got the deep red colour yet when it hits the ground. To give the apples the wonderful, dark colour the apples were placed on straw between the trees to get more sunlight and the cold from the nights. To save the apples from dehydration the apples had to be wetted. Also to get an even red colour the apples had to be turned after a while. Very intensive work if you have a large orchard.

Now, about the painting... I used for this Arches HP (I was out of Fabriano) and painted it first in watercolour. Using masking fluid to save the "stars". After that I put on layers of coloured pencil. And although I did get a very nice and rich dark red colour with the watercolour, the coloured pencils made it even more alive. I really loved this way of working and I think I'll use this technique more. The only thing I don't like is that the watercolours roughen the paper surface. I will have to find a cure for that. More experimenting is needed. 

The painting (only watercolour) with the masking fluid to protect the "stars".

Oh, and remember that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.... right? Not really.... I went to the doctor last week and it turned out that I have a very sportive right arm: a golfer's and tennis elbow (bilateral epicondylitis). With painkillers it's possible to work for about an hour a day. So the next project will take some time to get finished. But I promise, it will be a bit different ;)

Bulbs Instead

Look what my parents gave me last weekend. Isn't it just gorgeous? But this post is not about Peonies...

It should have been about the progress I've made with my Clematis. Unfortunately my shoulder, neck and elbow are hurting too much to work with my coloured pencils right now. Especially working on the easel makes it even worse. That's a bit ironic because I started that big drawing on my easel to sit straight up and therefore it would be better for my neck.But that Clematis will be there later. I took many sketches and studies of it so (with all the reference photos I took) I will be able to continue that drawing in a month.

So to prevent myself from falling into a large gap of boredom I went to Eenrum last weekend to visit "De Kleine Plantage" again. Summer/Autumn bulbs from Hein Meeuwissen and Rita van der Zalm were there. So I had a drooling time at their stand. I had a few Dahlias planned for my garden but what I really wanted to buy were some wonderful looking bulbs. Flowers were less important. I also bought another Arisaema griffithii rhizome. Hopefully I will get some results from it this year.

The bulbs I bought are really nice and I started to draw the most beautiful one almost immediately. The problem was that I couldn't finish it the day after because we had a birthday party here. So the bulb was already two days in the house when I actually could start painting it. Unlike all the other bulbs I bought, this one started to grow as soon it felt the warm temperatures inside my house. Next time I'll try not to forget to put my bulbs in the fridge until I can actually draw it. But let me show you... always better than words, no?

This is the bulb I'm talking about. Isn't it a beauty? Sprekelia formosissima this is. I was so in love with the silver and dark brown skin in combination with the lovely pink sprouts. I took this photo on the same day that I bought it.
Now here is the bulb I painted only two days later:

You see how fast it's growing? And even when I sat painting it, the flower-buds kept moving and growing... So I have to paint fast. Fortunately I'm almost finished with the buds now and I can soon start to paint the rest of the bulb but I'd better hurry with that too before the flowers will open. Yikes!!!

The rest of the bulbs I bought? Here they are:

Hippeastrum Sonatini 'Helios'. A hardy Amaryllis with very light green-yellow small flowers. I didn't like the bulb so much but the flowers looked amazing. Couldn't resist :P

This is Lilium 'Pink Perfection'. I'm not crazy about Lilies but this one I bought because the colours in the bulb are so pretty.

And finally some of the most beautiful bulbs I know: Narcissus 'Paperwhite'. Again, I'm not a fan of Narcissus flowers but the bulbs I adore. Look at the rich dark brown and shiny skin! Mouthwatering beauties....

So I'll be busy painting to rest my shoulder and elbow. I don't mind... I love bulbs!!!

Passion

I'm quite passionate about botanical art. Not only to look at but most of all to draw and paint it. Now I may have written about it before but I suffer from depressions. Botanical art is something that really helps me to stay positive. In the winter months however, it is not so easy to stay so positive anymore. Actually it gets very hard. The passion and the joy to paint is gone and I get a sort of painter's block. On the other hand, I feel even more misserable because I don't paint and draw. And if I do paint, it often turns out to be made for the dustbin. Quite vexing.
So, that is one of the reasons why I haven't painted something for months. Today I finished something though. A watercolour of Passion Fruits. A fun little painting which turned out fine. I first painted the smooth one, then the wrinkled one and finally the opened one with the snotty seeds. That was the hardest part since the colour of the seeds is so strange and it is shiny and semi-transparent, some seeds have a bit of a shape, others are more merged like pulp. It actually resembles a bit a blob of frog spawn.
I painted the fruits first and at the end I enhanced it a bit by using some coloured pencils. Just to make a few shapes pop, add a bit more shade and shape and most of all to accentuate the different textures.

Now let's hope this is the start of a better period and with a lot of pleasure in painting more stuff. Spring is coming... that's always a good time to get inspiration.

Painting in Eenrum

Last weekend I was invited to demonstrate botanical art and sell my paintings, prints and cards at "my" nursery De Kleine Plantage in Eenrum. For some years now they are selling my cards in their shop and every year I'm invited for the Liefhebbersdagen. It's in the second weekend of September and many other nurseries, bulb sellers, specialised shops, bookstores, etc. are invited to show and sell their goods at De Kleine Plantage. It's always quite a big event garden and plant lovers in the Northern part of The Netherlands. I took some photos again this year. It's so nice to look at the plants that are flowering now, finding new introductions of plants and of course to meet up with friends who share the same passion.
Down below you'll find the tiny painting I made last weekend. It's Clematis 'Jan Fopma'.

The beautiful border of pots and containers at the entrance of the nursery:

The plants for sale, ordered by colour. It's nice to see plants of the same colour all together, easy to combine and it looks wonderful too.

This is at the greenhouse where I was painting. Part of the greenhouse was made into a tearoom, the other part was for a jewellery maker, a book store selling old and antique gardening books and me. On Sunday also Gert Tabak and Ton ter Linden joined us with their cards and books.

 

 

There were quite a few bulb sellers. The biggest of all was Hein Meeuwissen. Unfortunately I didn't have time to get some bulbs myself but I will order some. The displays of all the sellers was so mouthwatering....

Some of the plants that caught my eye at the nursery....

Allium tuberosum

Aster 'Vasterival'

Clematis 'Dark Eyes'

Clematis 'Princess Kate'

Clematis viticella 'Maria Cornelia'

Echinacea 'Maui Sunshine'

Kosteletzkya virginica

Purple Kale

And here he is: Clematis 'Jan Fopma'

Quail Eggs

I found these little quail eggs in the supermarket yesterday. I couldn't resist.

Watercolour on Lana HP.

I'm a bad blogger

I know... I really should post more often than I do but I keep postponing it like I do with so many have-to-do-things. Times have been incredibly busy. I'm working every day now that Bertus is going to school. I've worked hard on the bulb project for next year's exhibition. If you missed that, I blogged about that here. I made many sketches of the Ornithogalum and I'll do that later this year (after autumn).

I'm really hard working on a huge painting of the Spanish Bluebells. I like that one a lot.

I made a painting of the Arisaema fargesii rhizome. Now I'm waiting for it to grow and hopefully flower so I can do the rest. I also did a few other species of Arisaema rhizomes. They have such a funny shape and the different textures are really nice to paint.

The Narcissus didn't flower, oddly enough. But I can't say I'm very sad about that. I don't like Narcissus that much and above all it was a double one. Not my taste really.

In the meantime I did a little study of Rosa moyesii 'Geranium' Trying to do the first layers of the petals wet in wet. It worked. So perhaps I'll try it more often, now that I know it's not that difficult. Also I'm painting some tiny rosebuds on vellum now. That is a lot of fun because it is fast result and the colours stay so brilliant. It's not finished yet but here's how it looks so far.

Other news is that I sold my Nectaroscordum painting last week at the annual group exhibition of the Dutch Society of Botanical Artists. I also sold a little painting of the black tulip 'Queen of Night'. A really fun flower to paint and not as hard as it looks. Really it's not!

I'm working now, besides the painting, on a new website. It will again contain a webshop where you can buy prints and cards and probably some originals. Also a big portfolio.
Even more exciting news is that my coloured pencil drawing of Polygonatum was published in the summer issue of "De Tuin, exclusief". I'm really proud of that since I think it's the most beautiful garden magazine.

 

I probably did draw and paint a couple of other things but these up here were the most interesting. I'll post the buds on vellum when it's finished. And that really should be soon ;))

Busy, Busy, Busy...

It has been a little while since my last post and things have happened. Let me first tell you my three paintings I made for the SBA show in London (in two weeks) got accepted. That made me very happy of course and allowed me to seriously continue my next work.
I missed my coloured pencils though so I decided to make a leaf for fun first. The Arum italicum is growing well around my house and in the winter it's so nice to have their wonderful green leaves in the garden. Also I am always captured by the elegance of the leaves. They are a lot of fun to draw and, as I soon found out, also to *paint*. So, here is my Arum italicum (Lords-and-Ladies) leaf:

I also went to the Helleborus days at my favourite nursery "De Kleine Plantage" in Eenrum. I bought 3 wonderful looking Helleborus plants. One very pale pink, one pink with deep magenta freckles and one in the deepest darkest colour of... well, not sure what to call this colour... Red? Purple? Chocolate brown? Let's call it black.
I wanted to try and paint that one of course. The Dutch Society of Botanical Artist will have an exhibition in May and June in Culemborg. All work on show will be for sale so if you really like this one, come to Culemborg and make me happy ;)
I'm still working on it but I can show you what it looks like so far.

I need to work on details (like the centre of the flower and the veins) and there also will be another flower or bud (or both) under the top flower. It's a lot of fun to work on this. The colours are so rich and dark. Mixing all different kinds of black (Red-black, Purple-black, Green-black, Brown-black) is playtime for me.

After this there are bulbs waiting for me. Next year the society will have an exhibition in 't Huys Dever where we will show all kinds of old bulb plants. I have four bulbs on my list of which three already are making green leaves fast. So I'll have to finish that Helleborus quickly.

Ornithogalum reverchonii is first in line (in the photo above ^). This one has already so many sprigs of leaves and is also showing some young plants growing around each bulb. My hands are itching to dig one of the bulbs up and draw the bulb with the new puppies.

More on the bulbs later. I'll first have to finish that Helleborus.