Eucalyptus macrocarpa watercolour artwork ...

Mottlecah WIP  -   © Vicki Lee Johnston

Time to update the blog with a painting completed for an exhibition - thanks to the challenging year we had in 2020, many botanical art exhibitions have gone online, which is still a lovely way to explore and buy art -  especially for those at great distance from the usual venues.  

I know from my own experience, living so far from the art exhibitions makes it very expensive to participate with hefty shipping costs.  I welcome this new way of sharing art and enabling many more to come in contact with art in all forms.

My choice as a botanical subject for  'The Art of Botancal Illustration' was Eucalyptus macrocarpa - mottlecah.  It came about as I pass this unique small tree almost every day on my walks.   It is a wonderful subject, especially being endemic to Western Australia and I have strong memories of being fascinated with the life cycle in my childhood in the country.   It usually looks a bit scraggly and leggy but when the tree produces pods and burst into flower it is a showstopper.  

Layering the leaves and developing flowers and buds
© Vicki Lee Johnston

 It is quite a tricky colour to capture, a kind of grey blue greenish hue ... different in all lights but I decided to show the transitions of colour to highlight how interesting the leaves are as the light hits them.  The flowers are very fiddly and this is the first time I have used masking fluid in a painting, took a few practice efforts and now I may just be a convert!  It certainly widens the field of subject choice for the future.

 

The seed pods are powdery silver grey, clutched tightly to the stem of the shrub.  Once the flower is spent it becomes such an interesting subject to observe and illustrate, woody and architectural, full of nooks and crannies and so much character!

Ageing seed pod coming to life 
© Vicki Lee Johnston

 

Building the depth © Vicki Lee Johnston

Scanned the large artwork and digitally sent to Friends of Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
"The Art of Botanical Illustration"

Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

The Friends of the RBGM is a wonderful organisation and there are many varied activities, support for botanical art and illustration and a wonderful synergy with the natural world.  Sincere thanks to the organisers of this beautiful exhibition, my fellow botanical artists and hoping there will be many more opportunities for art to be viewed around the world in an online platform.

 

Thank you for joining me again on my blog, it is a visual journal for my art progression and started back at the beginning almost ten years ago.  I hope you find the time to create - it's food for the soul!

Rose Mallee ...

Rose Mallee - © Vicki Lee Johnston

It has been ages since I posted a blog update but sometimes I think we need to allow the process to find its own flow ... it should never be forced unless it's a commission or exhibition deadline but in terms of communicating in a social way sometimes less is more while you get your bearings.

The great thing about the creative process is being able to find a community that supports and encourages without constant expectation.  I belong to a few art societies which are very welcoming and always communicate upcoming projects, exhibitions, publications and invite participation wherever possible, despite where you are located.  One such project was run by the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) to celebrate their recent silver anniversary.  

As I am a Member of the ASBA, I was invited to contribute to their publication by painting a subject within the theme of 'silver' whether it be silver leaves, silver in the name of the plant, etc.  I wasn't going to participate due to a very busy calendar and overseas travel at the time, but on one of my road trips I came across the Eucalyptus rhodantha, Rose Mallee, which happened to be in flower on the roadside.

It is a beautiful small tree, if somewhat scraggly and messy at times - however once it comes into bud and flowers - wow, it's a showstopper.  It's endemic to my region and seemed a perfect subject to choose to paint considering the glaucous silver blue leaves and powdery grey buds .... just right for the job description at hand - and especially meaningful being an artwork portraying a West Australian native plant published in an international publication.

WIP - first layers of paint going on ...

I realised once again I had put myself under the pump time wise, as was due to travel within days so I decided just get it done, I loved the subject and once all the colour studies were done, I really hurried the layers of silver grey/blue on the leaves and started building up the shadows to create depth and form.

The powdery greyish silver was a joy to paint, keeping in mind less is more and only painting the shadows and a very subtle silver grey hue.  I then added the raspberry red of the flower, trying to show the light and shade to highlight the details and finally the minute details of the stamen.  The photos are very poor due to me working late into the night.  I had three days from start to finish to complete the painting, which is probably a good thing to avoid overworking.

Probably the most difficult part for many artists could often be the technology associated with exhibiting, publishing and showing artworks.  Being able to photograph, scan, convert files, edit, then ensure you have met the technical criteria for a publication, as it could end up less than complimentary to your work if the colours and light are off.  Fortunately all deadlines were met and the artwork was sent digitally to the society and able to be entered into this beautiful book celebrating their members, their art and the society as an international and inclusive organisation.

It was a few months before the book was published and it took quite a bit longer to reach Western Australia.  It was published in limited numbers, so somewhat of a collectors piece and I am very grateful for my edition.

Excuse the poor quality photo, not easy taking a pic from a glossy book ... but you get the gist! 

For further information here is the website for the American Society of Botanical Artists:

https://www.asba-art.org/

I have a number of artworks in the members gallery - which reminds me, I need to update that too!  Never ending tech alongside art and creation ... guess it keeps both sides of the brain in tune!

https://www.asba-art.org/member-gallery/vicki-lee-johnston

Rose Mallee - © Vicki Lee Johnston 

All artwork and images © Vicki Lee Johnston 2020

The Light Within ...

Nelumbo nucifera - Sacred Lotus Bud © Vicki Lee Johnston

I have taken a while to write this post, so many transitions happening in my life and through all of it so many opportunities to find hope and grace.  It seems symbolic somehow that this painting of Nelumbo nucifera - Sacred Lotus - came at a time when change was essential.  

There are so many plants I love and am drawn to, however my favourite plant of all is the Sacred Lotus, at every single stage of its development from seed to leaf to bud to flower to the transition of death of self to new life.  So much can be written about the morphology of the plant but I think for me the deep symbolic meaning drew me right in.  The lotus has been regarded as sacred by many religions and seen as a symbol of hope and light, being rooted in the mud and rising to the most exquisite bud unfurling to reveal a clean, beautiful blossom, reflecting purity and light.

 I had visited the beautiful lotus ponds at the Sydney and Adelaide Botanic Gardens and taken many images in the hope of one day spending a lot more time studying this beautiful subject.  I decided to begin by painting the bud itself, a symbol of new beginnings, and the photographic captures allowed me to look more deeply into it.

It was a case of gently approaching the bud first, it had an incredible glow about it and I wanted to preserve the luminosity which appeared to be lit from within the folds.

I then proceeded on to the layers and layers of watercolour yellows, greens, pinks ...

Then it occurred to me that with a full white background as is usual in botanical art, the light from the bud would be less visible as the background would dominate .... I decided to include the lotus leaves which surround the bud and push it more into the foreground.

By changing a photograph of the painting wip to grayscale it helps to see where more depth and light is needed, so I continued to fill the background with many shades of yellow, blue and green

Sacred Lotus watercolour WIP - © Vicki Lee Johnston

 Nearly there!  Time to add more shadow colour and fine tune the detail ..

Once I am almost there I like to visualise a painting on the wall, this is done with a useful display app

to see your painting in situ.

 Nice to step back and look at a distance!

Voila!  My first Sacred Lotus painting, the magical bud glowing with light, framed and hung at a local exhibition.  

© Vicki Lee Johnston

"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." 

 - Anais Nin

All images © Vicki Lee Johnston

Forest Floor ...

'Forest Floor' © Vicki Lee Johnston

The painting 'Forest Floor' came about after a call to artists to advise of an awards exhibition being held at a local gallery.  I always try to be involved where possible, even if the exhibit is not strictly botanical.

I had just over a week to compose, draw and paint the artwork and these creative ideas don't happen instantly.  I did what I always do when my mind isn't able to co-operate and went for a long walk in the hills nearby.  One thing I always notice in summer are the leaves on the ground, while they may be terribly messy and hard work to keep under control, I always seem to get lost in their beauty even though they are well beyond their best.

On this occasion I gathered a handful of half dead and dying leaves, a couple of gum nuts and took them inside where I laid them out in a pleasing mandala style pattern.  It was easier to see how a drawing might come to fruition and how the colours and formation interplayed with the design.  Our suburb in the hills of Perth is known as 'a home in the forest' for the beautiful green belt and natural environment, so the name became obvious to me as everyone living here would see this as such a familiar sight at their feet on the ground, and I had been playful with the outcome.

Decision made, I drew the leaves and gum nuts and set about painting them in the most lifelike way, trying to show the highlights and deep shadows to assist the piece in looking more three dimensional.

This was a kind of stop-start painting, which is unusual for me.  Usually I become somewhat obsessed with my artwork and slave over it for hours on end to the detriment of both my enjoyment and the artwork.  I simply didn't have the time what with renovations, Christmas, New Year etc., and was only able to paint for an hour here and there.  I found this process much more enjoyable and allowed me to step away and see it with new eyes more often. 

The leaves were very earthy colours with a few still quite green ... all having fallen from the trees on our property, my poor husband spends hours raking them up and looked quite bemused when he saw me bringing them inside.  

I enjoyed painting the gum nuts immensely but really took my time building up the washes and leaving the highlights and shadows to unfold slowly so I didn't overpaint them.

They really needed to look rounded and solid to enhance the overall idea.

Looking sideways at the painting often helps me 'see' whether the painting starts to leap off the page.

Finally stepping away from the painting,  I placed it upright and visited it at different times of the day!  I like to look at a painting from all angles to see if it appears realistic enough, before settling on the finishing touches, unfortunately time was tight but thankfully the details weren't too complicated and I finished in the nick of time.

I chose a box frame this time, with a nice amount of depth and shadow to the overall effect, choosing a very neutral frame and mat to allow the leaves and gum nuts to take centre stage.

What an absolute joy to be informed that my painting had been announced Winner of the two dimensional category at the Annual Art Awards - I hadn't been able to attend the big launch party and while I was sad I couldn't be there this was a beautiful keepsake to all my work.

I think it is very important for botanical artists to spread their wings and become involved in exhibitions from all genres, allowing yourself to be more creative and share the beauty of the natural world through observation and detail, this was a wonderful endorsement of this art form.  I finally managed to visit the gallery and enjoy the whole exhibition, there are so many beautiful works of art in all mediums and styles and I feel very honoured to have been shown among them.

The exhibition is open all this weekend - at the beautiful Zig Zag Gallery in Kalamunda, 

Western Australia.

All images © Vicki Lee Johnston

Diversion ...

Framed and ready to go

The Watercolour Society of WA Annual Exhibition was a great success in terms of numbers attending and artworks exhibited - almost 300 which were received with great enthusiasm.

My botanical rose painting looked a bit subdued in amongst the vibrant colour and movement of the works in the gallery - portraits, landscapes, architecture etc  with many artists taking advantage of larger sheets and full colour to portray their subjects.

Initial washes

I love to see work in progress photos of watercolour paintings to see the layers and detail bringing it to life.  Sometimes I think I prefer those images to the finished piece!

Starting the leaves

Rose leaves are so complex, take longer than the flower

 I knew my painting would be the shy girl in the corner - botanical art is the kind of work that the closer you get to the painting, the more you see - everything is in focus and detailed.    Many mainstream artworks are best viewed from a distance where you can get the full visual impact whereas botanicals invite you to step in closer ... just as in nature.


I always do a quick check of black and white tonal values:

© Vicki Lee Johnston

"Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way" 
 - Edward de Bono.
This quote was posted online recently and resonated strongly with me, thanks to friend Sarah from The Natural Year

The artistic path has led me down many roads and the newest route is taking somewhat of a detour to my norm.  I am working on a couple of projects to explore a slightly new way of working.  My subject is still nature - still botanically correct - but there will be some subtle changes and shifts in the way I present the work which is already bringing in positive new energy and optimism.  We have to find the fire that lights the creative juices and keeps us inspired and motivated, even if it takes us on the path less travelled.

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