The Practice of Botanical Drawing Discussion Board

Absolutely gorgeous colour! Love that saturation! This must be the ‘onyx ‘variety?? Bce it’s so dark??

Great page! Love all the info! Fun to read! Beautiful drawing too!

This stunning Sheila!

ooooh. I really like this.

This is fabulous. I love everything about it. The composition, the flowers. I really like the texture in the leaves.

Wow! That is really beautiful. The colors are so delicate. I especially love the center of the flower, and the little leaf bud on the stem.

This was my first exploration of the female catkins of the black cottonwood tree. It was much harder to get access to them because they don’t drop to the ground as easily as the male catkins and the trees frequently have some mite or disease on the buds of the lower branches that would be in reach. Cottonwoods are really tall!

A preliminary sketch of a blooming cottonwood as I attempt to create a complete composition of a black cottonwood in bloom. I ended up simplifying this. The knot of three forms (two branches and the long pendant catkin in the upper left is not working, not to mention that the page feels crowded and there’s no clear focal point. Some of the forms…[Read more]

A preliminary sketch of a blooming cottonwood as I attempt to create a complete composition of a black cottonwood in bloom.

This is the third try on the cottonwood in bloom composition. The idea is that I’ll work out the kinks in the composition and then trace the basic forms on to a new piece of paper for the final drawing.

So lovely, Sheila!

Staminate buds on a branch with just-opening catkin, both life sized and with parts magnified.

I think I posted an earlier version of these star magnolia blossoms. I an happiest with the bottom middle one. I like the way the form is enhanced by the contrast.

Staminate catkins exploration under the microscope with an attempt to get the correct botanical terminology for these forms.

Pistillate catkins of the black cottonwood tree life sized and magnified.

This is the start of some more color studies of new buds and leaves. I’m trying to create the look of the way the resign coats the new leaves so they look rusty, but I’m also trying to get the form of the leaf three dimensional. This is not a finished attempt!

Very open to suggestions. The magnolia are blooming like crazy outside now!

This is beautiful. Love the color in the different branches.