Speaking up for native species amongst a global stage

What is very special about the RHS Botanical Art Show is that you are visiting a global stage of botanical art where you will be bombarded (in a positive way), to botanical subjects that will dazzle you in form and colour.

Evident at the recent RHS London Botanical Art Show, was that several of the artists exhibiting had illustrated native species from their countries, rather than plants of a cultivated variety.

Three exhibitors illustrated British native plants, myself, Roger Reynolds and the Iceni Botanical Artists.

My exhibit 'Twigs & Buds in Winter - from Trees & Shrubs of Ancient Hedgerows'

Lower image courtesy of Solene Dequiret

Roger's Gold medal exhibit 'The Tip of the Branch' showed the beautiful detail of the growth stages of native woody species, and the Iceni Silver gilt medal exhibit was composed of numerous illustrations of 'Breckland Wildflowers - Heaths and Grasslands'.

Roger Reynolds with his exhibit 'The Tip of the Branch'

Images courtesy of Amber Halsall

The Iceni Botanical Artists Exhibit 'Breckland Wildflowers - Heaths and Grasslands'

As the first day of the show progressed, there was a pattern emerging and we soon realised that there was a real interest in native species.  Roger and I were constantly busy on the first day especially, with many many people wanting to know more specific information about the plants we had illustrated in addition to the techniques we had used to illustrate them.

During one of the quieter moments of the show, you can see that Roger and I were still busy chatting to people around our exhibits (centre of picture).

Image courtesy of Katherine Tyrrell.

Even though the subjects of our exhibits were presented in a different way, both of them really raised the profile of native woody species and for me, the fragility of ancient hedgerows.

Chatting to one of my students visiting the show

Personally, I had numerous visitors unknown to me, come and introduce themselves and to tell me that they had been following my project online for the last year and now wanted to see the work for real.  Other botanical artists were also grateful that I had been so open about the process I had gone through.  This was extremely satisfying and is evidence of how different forms of social media can work positively to promote native species and of course botanical art, as well as help in promoting yourself as a professional botanical artist.

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that helped to spread the word, on Twitter, Facebook and followers of this blog.  In particular the Botanical Society for the British Isles and The Ancient Tree Forum were very supportive on Twitter in the lead up to the show, as well as many others.

I had the opportunity to chat to the Show Manager about social media and he was very keen for artists to spread the word on social media platforms in the lead up to the botanical art show. There is nothing to say that you can't in the RHS documentation, and indeed they provide details of tags and links to use.
As an artist you do not necessarily want to reveal every single piece of the detail of your exhibit, but to reveal some information and perhaps images of parts of paintings, can pay dividends in the long run.

I will soon be writing another blogpost about the logistics of attending the RHS Botanical Art Show as an exhibitor - watch this space !

Finishing and fine tuning - reaching that goal

The last year has been somewhat of a busy one.  Natures Details has had its busiest year yet with new courses and exhibiting opportunities, but the main focus by far has been the work towards my RHS project.

With under a week to go until the RHS London Botanical Art Show, I thought that I would pen some words, hopefully to encourage others and also to give an insight into what goes into the preparation of such an exhibit in the final stages.

Back to the beginning first though.  I have been asked recently, 'why do you want to exhibit at the RHS with all the work it involves ?'

The process for me started many years ago when I could only dream of painting full-time.  At that point botanical art was a hobby alongside my main career in early years education.  I was also on the committee of a painting organisation and one day I had to deliver some paperwork to a popular and skilled botanical artist's home.  I nervously entered and there before me on the wall were several RHS gold and silver gilt medals.  At the time I remember thinking how amazing such an achievement was, just to exhibit, and wouldn't it be lovely one day ....

Well here I am, waiting to exhibit at the RHS.  There are so many people to thank and you all know who you are, I can't thank you enough.

One of the first ports of call for any botanical artist thinking of exhibiting at the RHS is the blogposts written by Katherine Tyrrell of Making A Mark, with the help of RHS medal winners.  A compilation of posts under the title Tips from RHS Gold Medal Winning Artists can be found on the Botanical Art & Artists website.


For me, if I was to put so much effort into creating a body of work on a theme, I wanted it to benefit others, not be just for the purpose of exhibiting.  Because of my previous working life in conservation this often happens with my work.  I wanted the paintings to be able to be used beyond the RHS show.

With this in mind I knew my theme would be linked with an ancient and declining habitat, so I therefore chose hedgerows, which have always fascinated me, particularly the structure of the ancient remnants.  The hedgerows themselves contain many species and these gave me perfect subjects to study and to help others ID these species.
But then I had to decide what season to depict the artwork in.  For me there was only one - winter.  I had already become mesmerised by the beauty of buds and twigs in winter and this was the route I decided to take.  With some expert help and guidance I was encouraged to depict the buds in a very different way - larger than life - and this really does open up the beauty of them for others to see.

It really helps to chose a theme that you feel passionately about.  It will buoy you along as you have to maintain that momentum.  There are times when you will have to be so determined.  Not everything will be straightforward.
No matter how much preparation you do before you even put brush to paper, a painting may not work out how you envisioned it to be.  One of my paintings had to be painted 4 times, before I got it right!
I learnt so much through this process though.

• All through the project you need to take note of exhibiting regulations and guidance given to you by the RHS.

Now to the final stages ......

• Taking the advice of others I completed one painting more than I had chosen to exhibit.  This gave me the option that if one was weaker in quality than the others, I could hopefully maintain the consistency, especially as the exhibit is judged as a whole.  Also you need to see how the collection of paintings look together.  They need to be individual but still harmonious and the one I chose to leave out did not fit in and jarred against the others.

• I knew what I wanted to say in the accompanying text for my exhibit and built this up over several months.  It is very useful to ask someone to give an independant opinion on the text that you had in mind, and be prepared that you may have to make significant changes if it will benefit your exhibit as a whole.  Bear in mind that some aspects will only be down to you if you have specific knowledge in a subject.  It can be easy to become close to your theme and be difficult to distance yourself and view it as to how others would see it.  Remember when writing the text, link directly with your exhibit title and present the information in an easy to read format.  Visitors may not know anything about your theme/subject and they will also not be able to necessarily stand there for ages reading reams of information.

• Think about how you are going to present your work.  This should definately have been decided very early on in the project in terms of the sizes of the finished paintings.  2016 is the last year that framed pictures will be exhibited at the RHS show.  From 2017 only mounted work will be accepted for exhibiting.  I had already decided that mine would be mounted and I also wanted the paintings to be backed on foam board so that they stood out from the board a little.  Even though I do cut my own mounts normally, I took the stress away by getting my framer to cut the mounts and he also cut a couple of extra ones just in case ! This was done several months in advance so that there was no rush at the end.

Cutting the foam board to fit the size of the mount-board

Using acid free framers tape to edge the foam-board.

I have seen too often how 'normal' tape can discolour very quickly, in a matter of weeks.

Mounted work backed onto foam-board and with acetate between the mount-board and artwork to help protect it.

• There will be other things that you will need to take with you to help you build the exhibit on the day before the show.  If you haven't got these already, start collecting them early on.  I got a small spirit level as a 'tree present' at Christmas !

My Christmas spirit level !

Also heavy duty velcro - this will be used to attach the artwork to the display boards.  Using heavy duty velcro means that the adhesive is stronger and the hooks and loops are more robust too.  I will be attaching the velcro to the back of the pictures before we leave on Wednesday so that I know it is fully adhered to the backing surface.  The velcro pictured above is 5cm deep.

Take additional other tape with you too, just in case it is needed.

• Other items you will need will include business cards, may be a profile leaflet with contact details and course information on (if you teach), and cards of the artwork, as you are allowed to sell them and visitors so often want a reminder of specific artworks.

Ooh the first peek !

These are the postcards that I will have for sale at the show.

Finally .......  Remember it is your exhibit with your vision.  As with everything it is a complete learning process too.

I am at the stage now, that I have done all that I can and I just want to enjoy next week and hopefully get a medal too ! 

Thank you again for the support and I look forward to seeing some of you at the show.

For more information about the show got to:  https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-london-shows/rhs-london-botanical-art-show

Try, try and try again - don't give up !

I've been painting away still, working on the bud paintings for my RHS project.

It has been quite satisfying recently as the majority of the paintings are nearing completion.  Seeing how they look as an exhibit as well as individually, certainly gives a feeling of everything coming together.

Early on in the project studying the Hazel bud and female flower.

At this time when you see them as a whole it is good to really look and evaluate how they look together.  Yes, they have their individual colour range for each tree species, but also you need to make sure that there is harmony and consistency between each one.

It was during one of these evaluations that I realised the Hazel bud was just not working, yes the one that I had already painted 3 times !!  No matter how much planning you put into the individual paintings and the exhibit, things can still go wrong towards the end.

The dreaded Hazel bud and the terrible bundle scar - it wasn't quite finished at this stage.

Take it as a complete learning experience.  I was surprisingly calm reaching this last decision about the Hazel.  You may wonder why I didn't just leave it out if it was causing so many problems, well it is one of the dominant species in the ancient hedgerows, so it has to be included as far as I am concerned.

Where the first 3 paintings had been of the same composition, this time I completely changed it.

I've worked on it all weekend and I am finally satisfied with how it looks and how it fits into the exhibit.

The new Hazel bud - work in progress.

So the advice I give is stay determined and never give up - try, try and try again.  You'll be a better artist because of it.

In the meantime, the other buds that have been completed are the Wayfaring tree and Ash.  I thought the Wayfaring tree was going to be the most challenging, but to date this is the one that I enjoyed painting the most.

The Wayfaring tree - very 'downy' buds

A whole range of blacks used to paint the Ash bud.

On another note, the Natures Details courses are receiving bookings, so if you fancy a bit of botanical art - Spring & Summer Flowers; sketching live owls; painting a Hazel Dormouse; illustrating butterflies and moths and exploring colours of the seashore, then there may be something for you !

For more information visit the website:

http://www.natures-details.com/naturesdetailscourses.html

New Year, New Sketchbook (or 2), and new Subjects

Where has that year gone ?!

It has flown by for me, with various challenges along with the way, but there are several constants that are always there - my family (and very tolerant husband), my friends and yes you guessed it, my love of art and the natural world.

What has been truly special this last year has been the number of people that have become interested in botanical art and natural history illustration.  Some of them have been coming to courses and workshops for a few years now, one lady for 10 years !  The Natures Details Summer School courses were a joy to teach and what made them special was the learners' infectious enthusiasm and the sense of sharing that with everyone, along with the beautiful venue in the South Downs National Park, in Hampshire UK.  There are more courses to follow in 2016 - starting earlier this year in March.  Go to the website for more info.

The view from the 'Old Tractor Workshop' - venue for the Natures Details Courses

The botanical art courses at Peter Symonds College AHED in Winchester are very popular, with a 3rd class having been introduced in September.  Last term I had 35 students in total and next term looks about the same.

As for my own artwork, subjects were varied this year.  Several focused on my current project 'Art & the Hedgerow', which is leading up to the completion of another selection of paintings that will be exhibited at the RHS London Botanical Art Show on the 26th and 27th February.

Butterflies proved popular subjects too and this will continue into 2016 with a specific Butterfly & Moth Illustration course to be held at the Kingcombe Centre, Dorset in July.

I am hoping to complete some new butterfly and moth illustrations looking at their ecological relationships.  Birds will no doubt play a part as well and this has already started with a drawing of Beebo the Tawny owl.  He was one of the owls that visited us for the Sketching Owl's course in October.  This drawing will also be making a special appearance in the not to distant future, although more about that to follow soon.

Beebo the Tawny owl

Onto sketchbooks.  Many of you will know about my love of sketchbooks and this is great, but up until now I have never been able to complete one.  Well this year I have managed it, even filling two in the process !

They are used in several ways: sticking 'lost' drawings and paintings in, creating detailed study pages, quick sketches, exercises for use in courses and lastly, they are a place for me to explore my love of nature in.

This year's sketchbooks - A3 in size and made by Pink Pig in Yorkshire, UK.  The bottom sketchbook is my RHS project one and is still very much in use.

So here is a selection of pages from my botanical and natural history sketchbooks of 2015.

Wild garlic 

Kingfisher - sketched from museum specimen

A popular page used in several courses this year.  Painted lady butterfly.

Happy memories from a wonderful summer day spent with my friend and artist Susan at Old Winchester Hill, who had come all of the way from Vermont.

Preparation for a vellum painting - A View Inside - Foxglove.

A lost and found painting added to the back of the natural history sketchbook. Goldfinch.

Sketches and colour trials (also on vellum) of peaches from the stunning peach house at West Dean Gardens.  It was so hot and almost impossible to paint, but the smell from the ripening peaches was divine !

A wonderful Autumn day sent with Claire from Drawn to Paint Nature sketching fungi in the New Forest, Hampshire

The new sketchbooks ready and waiting.

As they get dragged around everywhere with me I make fabric bags for them to go in.

This year there will be two A3 Amelie watercolour sketchbooks along with an 8x8 inch version, which will be just for butterflies, moths and other insects.

There have been two pieces of good news this week, helping to kick start the new 'botanical art' year.

I was thrilled to be one of the featured botanical artists in Garden News Magazine this week (2nd Jan issue).  The article was perfect in showing how botanical art and gardening can go hand in hand.

Secondly, Anne-Marie Evans who created the first ever Botanical Illustration Diploma Course in the UK, was awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Years Honours list, for her services to Botanical Art and Education.

I am sure that many people are thrilled that she has been awarded this and it is also good news for botanical art too.

Read more about it here: News from Botanical Art and Artists

All I have to do now is wish you a very happy, healthy and creative 2016.

Thank you to everyone that follows this blog and the exploits of Natures Details elsewhere.

Happy painting !

Sarah 

Seeing things - vascular bundles

My love of plant morphology certainly extends into my botanical drawing and painting it would seem strange if it didn't.

Whilst completing the paintings for my RHS project I am drawn ever closer (excuse the pun), to the details I am illustrating, especially as some of them are x20 lifesize.  You even begin to start seeing things - yes I am not joking !

Most recently I have been painting my 3rd attempt at a Hazel bud, yes third, and I think  have finally cracked it.  The bit that was the most challenging was believe it or not the leaf scar.  This is usually found just below the bud and is where the leaf from the previous year was attached.

A Horse-chestnut twig showing the morphological features of a twig.  The leaf scars on this tree species are characteristically quite big.

On the surface area of the leaf scar is usually some small spot like features, when viewed life size. These are called the bundle scar and are actually the ends of vascular bundles.

What are vascular bundles ?

A vascular bundle is a part of the transport system in vascular plants. The transport itself happens in vascular tissue, which exists in two forms: xylem and phloem. Both these tissues are present in a vascular bundle, which in addition will include supporting and protective tissues.

So these bundle scars have proven to be a bit of a challenge, as their layout on the leaf scar is often regular in pattern and can at times represent a face - this has been the case with the Hazel.

It has been driving me a bit mad, but I have had to accept it, as the position of these bundle scars can be a feature used in identification, so I have to show them as they actually are.

The Hazel bud and twig WIP - see what I mean !

Guelder rose - not so much of an issue

A very small bundle scar on the Field maple

Ash - only the edge of the leaf scar is visible below the lateral bud

I accept the challenge of the bundles and will carry on regardless !

On a positive note I have had confirmation from the RHS, and will be exhibiting this series of paintings at the RHS Botanical Art Show at the Lindley Hall in Westminster, London, on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th February.

For further information about the show follow this link: https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-london-shows/rhs-london-botanical-art-show

Hairy buds - how do you paint them ??

Well, this is the dilemma that I have been facing over the last year.........

Painting twigs and buds almost x20 lifesize means that every single bit of detail shows, and yes you guessed it, some of them have hairs too.  Looking at the twigs with the naked eye, you would never believe that those hairs were even there !

This was the case with a Field maple twig, showing the terminal bud as well as the lateral buds.

The painting forms part of my collection of artwork, which will hopefully be exhibited with the RHS in 2016.  The title of the exhibit is: Twigs & Buds in Winter - from Trees & Shrubs of Ancient Hedgerows

So far this painting has been the most challenging, and in the lead up to it I tried several ways of depicting the fine hairs found on the buds and twig.

• Using masking fluid - I can't stand the stuff but I gave it a go trying several makes along the way !  I used a ruling pen, dip pen and a fine brush and just couldn't get the results that I wanted.

• Using white gouache/body colour - this I am used to and I like permanent white, particularly the Daler Rowney one.  When I use it I tend to apply it to the area concerned in the painting and then add the colour on top, even though it is usually only a subtle hint of colour and often a neutral shade, such as a 'botanical grey'.  The gouache was just looking too blue, so back to the drawing board !

• Painting the areas around the hairs - the negative space - I just wasn't brave enough to do this !

So what did I use ?

I came across this liquid acrylic made by Golden.  It is not acrylic ink, but is still quite fluid and can be diluted too.

What appealed to me was that it was available in Titan buff, which is like a very pale beige and a far more natural looking colour than a stark white.

The lightfastness rating was good and I also looked at the other properties, which were clearly marked on the back of each bottle.  I certainly didn't want shiny looking hairs, but I still wanted a good degree of opacity !

I tried out various brushes and I am especially a fan of spotter brushes, particularly the firmer ones, which tend to made of man made fibres and not sable.

Rosemary & Co Series 307 are proving useful and I opted for size 3/0, a size I wouldn't normally use!

The titan buff on my palette.  I had diluted it with a tiny drop of water.

The development of one of the lateral buds.  When you view a twig and bud through a microscope it is amazing how the colours are often more intense than if you saw them with the naked eye.

Initially for the tiny hairs on the bud tip I used a neutral colour to create some form and texture and then used the liquid acrylic to introduce the lighter hairs and create even more depth.

The hairs on the main body of the twig were of varying lengths and densities so this presented as another challenge !  Shadows under some of the hairs were painted in and if the liquid acrylic was still too bright, I toned it down with a weak wash of a colour that I sometimes call 'dirty paint water' !

At this stage some of the hairs still need more of a highlight, but not all along each shaft, but where the hair bends and hits the light.  (Thanks to a very helpful and good friend for advising me on this).

So there you are, I faced the challenge head on.  I'm not saying it is the right answer, and another time I may approach the same challenge differently, but I am relived to have now finished this painting.

Previously, blogposts relating to my RHS project could be found only on my Art & the Hedgerow project blog, but in the lead up to the project being finished I will be posting on both blogs.

I will be at the Kingcombe Centre in Dorset from Tuesday 17th to Thursday 19th November, working on the project.  So if you are around why not pop in and say hello and see me at work.