School Holiday Fun and Research

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I am blessed in my little boy for many reasons, but at school holiday time one reason comes in very handy.

“Mummy I love nature. It’s just so full of beautiful stuff!
”
— O. Gillard 2015

It is becoming our tradition every school Holidays to get out into our local bushlands and gardens. He loves it, we are both getting excercise and I can work as well.

This holidays we climbed Mt Majura and took the forest walk on Black Mountain. We were going to do some further exploring at the National Botanic Gardens but they were closed the day we went due to extremely windy conditions. Much to our disappointment; my son really wanted to visit the new desert garden.

Mt Majura Nature Reserve

Mt Majura is right behind where we live so we visit there quite often. I plan to climb it every school holiday break this year so I can take note of the seasonal changes and know what is in flower when. I like the idea of painting the flowers and plants that are close to where I live. It is easy to be seduced by the rarity and diversity of the Australian flora when visiting the collection of plants at the National Botanic gardens, and I do get a chance to explore those plants when I paint with the Freinds of the Botanic Gardens group but I really want to concentrate on those specimens close to home first.

On this visit there was not a great deal in flower, it is starting to cool off heading towards winter.

Black Mountain

I have lived in canberra for 20 years since coming here as a University student. I have visited the tower on black mountain but had never explored the surrounding bush. So when we visited the National Botanic gardens to find it closed we decided to explore Black Mountain which is right next door to the gardens.

We followed the forest walk trail which takes about an hour to walk and takes you right around the top half of the mountain. It is a rugged little landscape, that floats quietly above the bustle of Canberra city.

Black Mountain map showing the forest walk trail.

Black Mountain map showing the forest walk trail.

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An Exotic Commission.

I have not painted many exotic (non-Australian native) plants. You get so used to creating certain textures and shapes from studying them so closely. Just the other day I heard botanical art described as problem solving-  the more I do, the more I get to know how to solve some of these 'problems', so it is good for the grey matter to be challenged by something a bit different.

I was commisioned to paint some Helleborus, at first glance it seemed straight forward enough but it was only when I started to paint and really started looking, I relised that the leaf structures and vein patternations are quite different from the gum leaves and similar native leaves that I have been used to looking at.

The flowers are delicate with almost translucent petals and there is alot going on in the flower centres.

 

My neighbour was kind enough to let me snip a leaf specimen from her struggling plant. There wasn't much to chose from, It is very dry in Canberra at the moment.

My neighbour was kind enough to let me snip a leaf specimen from her struggling plant. There wasn't much to chose from, It is very dry in Canberra at the moment.

Work in progress, Hellebore

 

Helleborus orientalis

I am reminded why in times past I chose to avoid painting white flowers, however I have discovered that problem also has a solution. I just have to keep really looking and keep painting, after all I can't solve a problem if I'm not prepared to try!

New and Challenging.

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Early this year I was commissioned to produce a series of illustrations for a one off childrens book. It is intended as a personal gift and so won't be published.  The brief was; an adult male, a girl and a rabbit, an Easter story set in a local snowplay area called Corin Forest.

This was an interesting proposition. Last year I participated in The 52 Week Illustration Challenge, which was founded by a childrens book author who wanted to extend her drawing/ illustration skills. Participating in this challenge meant producing an illustration each week to a different one word topic. I found it was a way to get me drawing subjects and styles I may not otherwise tackle. Drawing people for example is not something I do regularly, so this commission presented me with an opportunity to work further outside my comfort zone and explore the possbilities.

Story book illustrators have their own unique set of problems to solve. The drawings are there to complement and help tell the story. Continuity of both characters and the environment to put them in was an interesting challenge. As someone not used to drawing people I am now faced with drawing the same person repeatedly, doing and expressing something different from one page to the next! Tricky!

It was quite fun letting go of the constraints of Botanical drawing wherein you have to be acurate and true to the subject, in this my imagination got a look in. Guided by the authors story it was up to me to provide an environment on the page for the three characters to inhabit.

 

I am reasonably happy with how it turned out, given that I had very limited time and I am a first time book illustrator. I learnt heaps and found I quite enjoyed the experience plus my client seemed happy- what more could I ask for?

To see the full suite of Illustrations click here.

 

The finished product.

The finished product.

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