Here in Montreal everyone has pretty much had it with the cold rainy weather. In spite of that, the trees are leafing out and daffodils and tulips are blooming. I'd rather have an attenuated spring than the kind that simply arrives one day with a blast of summer heat - but this one has been especially long and cold. It's good, though, for my project of painting budding trees and tree flowers!
Above is a picture of my set-up -- a pretty rudimentary but adaptable and functional binder-clip system for holding the branches suspended naturally against a white background.
Below is a process photo of this particular painting, of the long catkins that are the flowers of paper birch trees. I need to do a pretty detailed drawing first, so I take time with that. The structure of the branches and flowers are important in conveying the weight and "style" of the blossoms. As I draw, I study the color too, and think about how to show the shapes in the final painting.
Here, it wasn't necessary to draw every single little circular bloom once I understood how they worked. What was crucial was to draw the central stem from which the blooms emanate - like the string on which pearls are strung. It's not perfectly straight, which helps to give the correct impression that the catkins are very light. I also look for patterns: are the little circular blooms offset, or opposite each other, or do they coil around the stem in a spiral? When the observation is accurate, the painting proceeds much faster too, because I've got the structure and growth-pattern clearly in my head.
Below, a pencil drawing of a branch of a budding horse chestnut that I found during a bike ride in Maisonneuve Park. What a great shape it has!
I also did the pen drawing below, one evening before the leaves started to fade and droop. I felt it would make a good painting in acrylic or oil, with the little jug turned around and moved to the left to form more of a triangular shape with the stem, echoing the triangles of the leaves. Unfortunately I think I've missed my chance to do the painting from life this season, but maybe I can work from these drawings.
Finally, this was yesterday's effort. I was staring up at a magnolia tree where all the blossoms were above my reach, and then saw this fallen bloom on the ground at my feet. That was an "a-ha" moment; I brought it home and painted it immediately.
I'm not sure where I'm going with these paintings; I'm just trusting the process to show me. So far, it was been quite rewarding and satisfying, and it's given me an excuse to get outside and look at spring differently.
If you have favorites, I'd be delighted to hear which they are, and why!
These are all lovely, but I love that magnolia. I don't know why exactly, but it really strikes me. Something about the sweetness and tattered-ness of it together. Do you think you might offer it for sale?
Posted by: Kat | May 07, 2017 at 02:13 PM
Really lovely, Beth. Had a bit of a trompe-l'oeuil moment; for a second I thought the hanging thing was your painting.
Posted by: Andrea Murphy | May 07, 2017 at 02:19 PM
I love these.
Posted by: Pascale Parinda | May 07, 2017 at 02:45 PM
So refreshing Beth! I admire your dedication!
Posted by: Marie | May 07, 2017 at 03:44 PM
The birch catkins are gorgeous... The magnolia bloom is something I see all over the ground.
Posted by: Gary Boyd | May 07, 2017 at 04:18 PM
Beautiful work, Beth! You might enjoy and be inspired by this book by Molly Peacock: The Paper Garden.
Posted by: Marja-Leena | May 07, 2017 at 09:18 PM
I love botanical drawings and paintings and think you have a great talent for this, Beth. Careful and precise, and also painterly and imbued with feeling - wonderful!
Posted by: Jean | May 08, 2017 at 08:14 AM
Hello, Marja-Leena - I've heard about that book before (maybe from you?) and then forgotten about it. Just ordered it as I'm very interested in both botanical art and 'late style'. Thank you xx
Posted by: Jean | May 08, 2017 at 08:21 AM
I hope you'll consider offering prints of these on your Etsy shop. I love them all, but magnolias are my favorite and yours is particularly striking.
Posted by: Martine Pagé | May 08, 2017 at 10:03 AM
Kat, thanks for being interested in that painting. I've decided to keep the group together until I have a body of work to show for a potential exhibition idea. Whether that works out or not, they'll be for sale eventually -- I'd say late summer? -- and I'll let you know. I appreciate it a lot! And maybe I'll take Martine up on her suggestion of offering prints for sale. I'm undecided about my online shop these days.
Andrea -- yes! I noticed that too!
Maria, Pascale, Gary -- thank you all for your appreciation and comments.
Marja-Leena -- I will look for that book, thank you so much for the suggestion!
Jean, thank you. Botanical art is tricky, don't you think? Some of it looks like medical illustration to me, but some does have real emotion. Obviously I want to go in the latter direction, but I'm feeling my way there.
Martine - thanks. As I said above, I'm not sure what I'm going to do on my Etsy shop, or how I feel about selling prints and cards, though I think they'd do better than the paintings. We'll see! I'm glad to know you like magnolias!
Posted by: Beth | May 08, 2017 at 10:11 AM
Love all of these, but esp. the birch bloom's delicacy and yes, lightness - and the magnolia evokes so much for me. Simultaneously sturdy and easily bruised, there it is, the sadness and loveliness of the whole mess.
Posted by: Jessamyn | May 08, 2017 at 07:41 PM
This reminds me to go get a photo of a magnolia blossom I have in a vase, before it starts to fade.
Posted by: Hattie | May 08, 2017 at 10:06 PM
I liked your exchange with Natalie under the post with the red bottle-brush tree blossom... And these feel related to that conversation. I especially love the grace of the paper birch catkins, and the way the magnolia blossom is about beauty and mutability and death.
Posted by: Marly Youmans | May 10, 2017 at 10:37 AM