New Ideas in Botanical Painting by Carolyn Jenkins

Author:Carolyn Jenkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Batsford

Marigold (Calendula officinalis), an unknown variety of rose and cornflower (Centaurea montana).

CHOOSING A SUBJECT

Many factors help me decide what to paint: colour, texture, seasonal changes, size, growth patterns, wow factor. What ever the reason I always treat my subject matter with equal standing.

Working from Life

I always think of the term ‘working from life’ as referring to a painting or drawing done in a life room, or of a still-life work of something as simple as a cup and bowl, in other words entirely from the subject in front of the artist. My early work ‘Violetto’ Artichokes on a Plate is in this still-life vein.

I use the phrase to refer to working from a plant specimen that will last for the duration of the time it takes me to paint it – with the precaution that I have back-up photographs just in case. This breaks the ‘rules’ of what working from life generally means (i.e. not working from a photograph), but it’s really important to my painting process that I have a ‘preserved’ view of my subject for reference. I will work entirely ‘from life’ on one of my illustrations only if the subject matter is something that won’t move or change too much, or if it’s a quick study with less detail for reference.

It might sound obvious, but making a detailed observational painting from a botanical subject has to account for how long it is going to last in its current form. Petals drop, brightness fades and leaves wither as things dry out. Any painting decisions made will depend on what the expectations of the work are going to be: the approximate time it might take you to complete the task, and how long you think your subject will maintain its shape and colour – or whatever else attracted you to it in the first place.

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