Tag: watercolour

Leaf of the Day: Mother and Daughter Croton

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I have spent most of the day working on my other blog which I may post tomorrow, but as a bit of light relief today I just had to draw these wonderfully strange leaves.
I stumbled upon them down in the jungly bits of Leu. They are from the bizarre Mother and Daughter Croton, I think the variety is Codiaeum Appendiculatum. You can see why it has this name, with the nodding small leaf sprouting from the top of the bigger leaf joined by the slender stalk. Where they join, is a slight funnel shape which is quite beautiful. You really need to hold one in your hand to appreciate it. The one I have painted is an almost black-green with deep red on the underside of the leaves, the young leaves are bright green. I am so taken with these I will probably draw them again.
It was only because I was looking at something else that I noticed this croton whose leaves, like so many other crotons and fancy leaved plants, really need to be seen in isolation and away from the muddle of the whole plant. I initially didn’t like crotons much but I am coming to admire them more and more. Their sheer variety is stunning. The previous posts re: crotons are here

The croton is so named because the seed looks like a tick and there have been a few insecty things around this week. One is the discovery of a new sort of aphid which was bought, preserved in amber, on Ebay for 20 pounds.

Another is a short piece on BBC Radio 4′ Great Lives about the extraordinarily talented Robert Hooke, whose Micrographia I have mentioned before here.
The introduction has David Attenborough reading Hooke’s description of a flea.
” the flea is adorned with a curiously polished suite of sable armor, neatly jointed.”
What a marvellous description. I think nowadays we have lost much of beauty of descriptive language just for the sake of brevity. It’s a shame.


Robert Hooke’s engraving of the Flea from Micrographia, from Stanford University here

You can listen via the BBC website here if you are interested. “Micrographia” was so important as it was the first book devoted entirely to the new science of microscopic observation, illustrated with Hooke’s own beautifully executed engravings. Can you imagine the impact of such a work in 1665?

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Mother and Daughter Croton

Leaf of the Day: Turquoise Flowers and 9 Floating Flowerheads

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Today I was going to take it easy, make some final adjustments, retro post the other flowerheads and settle down to some work on my other blog. The Latin names of the flowers have to accompany the assignment and I had no trouble with most of them except the Parrot’s beak. I had taken a photo of the label but a leaf had obliterated most of the Latin name. So in the end I just had to get on the bike and go back to the gardens. However it is a lovely and quiet place on a Sunday morning which was a bonus and I found some new and completely wonderful things as well as the Latin name for the Parrot’s beak so it was a worth the effort.
One flower which is tucked away in a border, almost out of sight, is the astonishing turquoise Green Crossandra, Ecbolium viride. I am not sure if I will get round to drawing it so here is my photo.

It’s not a very good photo and does not do the strange and brilliant turquoise colour justice, but you see what I mean. It is so unusual to see this colour in a flower. Pigmentation in plants is derived from anthocyanins and this blue I presume is derived from delphinidin which is responsible for the blue colour in flowers, but I would need to research some more to find out.

There are others, probably the most spectacular being the Jade Vine Strongylodon macrobotrys. I understand there is one at the McKee Botanical Garden at Vero Beach here in Florida. It would be really worth seeing.

This gorgeous photo by annkelliott@Flickr is from the University of British Columbia’s ‘Botany Photo of the Day ‘site here. (Sometimes I do wonder why I carry on painting)
There is also the lovely Ixia Viridiflora from the same site.

I now have to pack up the floating flowerheads, and find some way of protecting them from the ravages of the US and UK postal vandals. My leaf assignment arrived back to me tattered and bent in half, despite being emblazoned with do not bend labels and protected with plastic stiffeners. It is as well not to be too precious about your work, it’s only paint on paper after all (and 7 days back-breaking and eye straining toil of course)

Am I pleased with it? Well, it’s the curate’s egg. Some tiny bits are Ok and I have learned more about applying the paint but basically I hate to have these different disembodied flowerheads dotted about on the one page. However it had to be a variety of different shapes sizes and colours on a prescribed format to practise painting so I guess that is what it is..a practice sheet. Left to my own devices I would have designed it very differently. However here it is, approx 16.5 x 11.5 inches.
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The Floating Flowerheads

Leaf of the Day: The Hibiscus.. hour, by hour, by hour…

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Well it is Saturday, the day I have to get the Hibiscus finished. For my own interest I am going to see just how long it takes. I am a morning person and if it were a project I was looking forward to I would normally start at about 7.00. Today I eventually begin work at 9.00am after many delays. So here was my starting point from yesterday, a slight sketch drawing on the submission sheet with some tentative colour.

9.00am ready to go.

I have to cover up all the other flower heads or else I am bound to get greasy marks, tea stains, paint splashes etc, all over them. I took my one good flower out of the fridge and decided the only way to tackle this was to take the individual petals off. I will be guided by the shapes from yesterday’s sketch. As my initial drawing was of a different flower some things have changed but I should be able to make sense of it all. I am scanning as I go which again is time consuming but a welcome break.

11.00 am .. now I have a bit more colour and some more shading and have rubbed out the pencil.. well as much of it as I can.

I started again at 11.30 ..ish.
I realised I had to paint the stamens next, very quickly, as they are visibly shrivelling and there are lots of them.. but once you understand one and how they radiate out from the thickened stem it’s not too bad. Also I have to decide how to tackle the petals at the back and I am considering leaving them a bit paler so they appear further back. They are, in reality, a muddle.

2.00 pm. I do have breaks to have a coffee and to look, consider and plan.. I hope one more hour will be enough. From an artistic point of view and my own preference, I would probably leave it here. I like a slightly unfinished look where you can see some of the workings of a piece, but this is a botanical painting, and to be judged as such, so I probably need to push it a bit further for accuracy.

2.00 pm

3.00 The hibiscus and I are at an almost finished state but I need a break from it, as all I can see are the awful bits at the moment. It’s important to go away at this point ..very.
However a trip to Kmart to wait in an interminable queue for a pint of milk does not help. Sometimes I despair about the human race.

When I got back I decided there needed to be another small flower head on the sheet and painted that, a small purple something which I have yet to identify. Then looked over the hibiscus again tightened up a few things…I am not sure that was wise..and called it a day ..for today.. it may be finished…..it is 5.00.. phew.

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Japanese Lantern Hibiscus

Leaf of the Day: Fountain Clerodendron and Dwarf Poinciana

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It’s Thursday morning and I am having a break from the flower heads. I cycled into Winter Park village to look for any other flowers that might inspire me and got caught in the rain on the way back but I did get my glasses mended.
When I eventually started work it was the beautiful Clerodendron minahassae, the Fountain clerodendron. I had to spend quite some time trying to identify this tree as the label had gone missing at Leu. It is really pretty. These long tubular white blossoms spray out from the branches and the leaves are elegant and a lovely shape.

It seems there will be some interesting berries to come too, judging by what I have read. It was delightful to paint but white on white is hard in watercolour. I think they need to be set against the green leaves to show off their true beauty but the central curling red stamens are gorgeous.
The clerodenrons are a huge family with many pretty flowers and now I have seen a couple more shrubs at Leu.

Number 2 today was the Dwarf Ponciana floret which I had sketched last week. Again I had to get another flower head but luckily they are all quite similar, so I could work from the sketch too. The colours look dull here but are brighter in the original. (I am not sure that the computer does very well with yellow.) I am noticing more and more flowers with red stamens here. I wonder why.

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Fountain Clerodendron and Dwarf Poinciana



Leaf of the Day: Blue Pea, Yellow Parrot Plant and Ginger

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Wednesday. I am painting the Blue Butterfly Pea vine Clitoria ternatea ( you can blame Linnaeus for the unduly explicit name!) and the Parrot’s Beak Vine and I also added some tiny Blue Ginger florets to the page, as the vibrant blue of the pea vine needed some balancing up.

The Pea Vine is the deepest velvet blue with purple tints. I used ultramarine and dioxazine violet. The colours look rather raw on the scan and I have no time to adjust them. It looks too blue here, and the original has a darker purple at the edges not black.

The Parrot’s Beak caused me endless problems in identification and I am actually updating this post on Sunday, as, having painted the wretched thing, I could not find any information about it anywhere. All I came up with for “parrot’s beak vine” was nothing like this flower. In the end I have had to cycle down to Leu this morning just to find the ticket again. It is the parrot vine but this one is Gmelina phillipensis Parrot’s Beak not Lotus maculatus Parrot’s beak which is quite different. It was a nuisance but turned out to be a worthwhile visit as I have found more very interesting things..including a rare turquoise flower.. quite amazing.

The little Blue Ginger florets are from the central spike of flowers of the Dichorisandra thyrsiflora. This is actually the spiderwort family not a true ginger at all but the plant has a ginger-like habit.

Its particular form of flower spike is termed a thyrse and as long as the growing conditions are favourable the thyrse will continue developing, adding flowers to the top. It appears that this is another flower which, despite not offering nectar, relies on bees for pollination. The flowers produce a food pollen for the bees which they seek by shaking the flowers. This disturbs the pollen and the bees receive both food and a dusting of real pollen. This is picturesquely called “buzz pollination”, more about that soon.

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Blue Butterfly Pea Vine, Parrot’s Beak and Blue Ginger florets

Leaf of the Day: Cockspur Coral Tree

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This striking tree greets you as you enter the Arid Garden at Leu. It was one of the first trees in the garden which caught my eye, and that was even before it had flowered. The beautiful twisted branches lie close to the ground and the bark is deeply etched, it’s a very drawable shape. I had been to the gardens today to look for more inspiration for the course submission and this flower is another possibility. It is from the Coral Tree, Erythrina crista-galli also known as the Cockspur Coral Tree due to the spur shaped flowers or the spines on the trunk, I am not quite sure which. (although crista galli really means cocks comb so I would think the Latin name refers to the flowers.)

The first photo was taken on my initial visit in January and the next in April when the tree was in blossom for the first time.

The colour of the flowers which are held in hanging inflorescences (racemes) varies from deep orange red to a dark maroon and they are rich in nectar, much liked by the hummingbirds in their native South America. There is sometimes so much nectar that the flowers drip ‘tears’ giving rise to another local name “Cry Baby”.
It is the national flower of Argentina where the tree is called the Ceibo and where a rather somber legend is told about its origin. Are you sitting comfortably?

Once upon a time there was a tribe of Indians the Guarani who lived peacefully on the banks of the River Parana. Their Princess Anahi, although not blessed with good looks had a beautiful voice and loved to roam in the forest with the freedom of a bird. She also had a brave heart and defended her tribe fiercely against the Spanish invaders but for her rebellious actions was taken captive. In managing to escape she killed her guard and was condemnded to death by fire. As her body was engulfed in flames a transformation took place and she gradually took the shape of a lovely tree crowned with beautiful red tear shaped flowers, the Ceibo.

The tree at Leu is still flowering and due to continue until October but the flowers I have here are slightly more blousy and not quite such a neat shape as they were..perhaps they are past their best or have not enjoyed the hour in a hot backpack. They are an interesting shape though, and of course cunningly formed so that the pollinating insects or hummingbirds have to get underneath the ‘carina’ to access the nectar, becoming covered in pollen from the filaments in the process. The carina is the sheath like spike that has 10 wobbly headed filaments and the alarming black hooked structure which will develop into the seed pod… I looked for an old pod but was unable to find one with seeds and even for a pod lover like me they were just too tatty, but there are plenty on the way.
The flower is an interesting shape and a rich colour and the blossoms are very showy but to be honest I prefer the tree shape to the flowers..

Talking of pods, one of my models has just exploded. I had brought back a couple of curious little pods from the Gout tree ( exciting images to follow), One, the most interesting one, has just popped with an amazingly loud bang for something that is not much more than half an inch high! The 6 parts have ricocheted around the room…sigh…You don’t have this problem with photographs. Yes, recourse to the camera is becoming more and more attractive.
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Coral Tree Flower

Leaf of the Day: The Joy of White Champaca.

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Today I had to eat that last fragrant little guava, it has scented the whole house over the weekend, but I have replaced it with the superb White Champaca blossom. It has been in a container in the fridge for 3 days but as I brought it out , the whole room was filled with the most exquisite perfume. It is quite unbelievable and, it is not only sweet smelling, but beautiful too, the kind of flower I like, simple with slender creamy white petals, most elegant. You just have to keep going back to it for one more noseful of delight. If you live near one, beg a blossom or if your garden is big enough, grow one for yourself. If I had a garden it would be my number one tree. For an artist it is a delight, everything about it is worth painting, from leaves and flowers to the twisted pods with the red seeds and the tree itself.
The White Champaca is the Magnolia (once termed Michelia) alba. It is a tall, evergreen tree with these spidery creamy white flowers and the delicious sweet fragrance which starts early in the morning becoming more intense in the afternoon and filling the air at night. It is Shanghai’s floral emblem and in Thailand the blossoms are hung about the temple altars and floated in bowls of water to perfume the air.

Leaf of the Day: Grevillia Banksii pods and Hakea update.

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Last week I brought another Hakea pod home with me, hoping to actually see it opening up, but it got the better of me, splitting slightly along the seam on Friday and then overnight opening up. The surprise this time was how the pod opens up and in so doing releases the beautiful black seed from its case, demonstrating the real design elegance of this plant. The wing tips of the seeds are attached to the top 2 sides of the pod so when it opens it lifts the seed clear of its case. I think the drawings will explain it better. This is different from the one I drew earlier. I draw things just as I see them and am no expert botanist, so I must assume that the earlier pod did not contain a viable seed. On Sunday morning the pod had opened even wider..I am wondering when the seed will actually become detached. (I am sure this thrilling account has you on the edge of your seats but, to me, it is the most fascinating thing to watch how these natural mechanics work.)

While collecting this pod I also noticed some really funny little empty pods on the ground and brought a few back. If you were of a whimsical turn of mind you would have to say they are definitely pixie hats! They turn out to be from the Red Grevillia(Grevillia banksii) which is another Australian native and from the Proteaceae family, the garden planners at Leu obviously made a little Aussie collection here. These are the empty pods which had developed from the flowers. I can’t see the flowers (if there are any at this time) as the tree carries its branches too high for me to reach but the next time I am there I will make more of an effort. Having done some research though, I understand better how the pods develop and this beautiful illustration from Ferdinand Bauer shows the flower and fruit formations. I do hope I get to see a flower this season.
I imagine the little hooks are to attach the seed to passers by, hitching a ride to a new destination.

The plant was named by Robert Brown the Scottish naturalist who spent 3 years collecting and describing new species of plants in Australia. He and Bauer had worked closely together during Mathew Flinder’s Australian expeditions on the ship the “Investigator” and when they returned to England, published various volumes of their findings. The “Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae” published, in 1813 was a collaboration between Bauer and Brown and contained the drawing above. Bauer was an exceptional artist even engraving his own plates, such skill is humbling!… more of Bauer at a later date.

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Hakea again and Grevillea Pods

Leaf of the Day: Sample and Sniff in the Gardens and the Heliconia again

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Blogs have their limitations don’t they? There are some things about my experiences in the garden that I just can’t share with you. The heady scents for one. Today it was the gorgeous White Champaca, the exquisite Chinese Perfume bush, and the Gingers. Crush the leaves of any of the Bay Rum trees between your finger and you will have a peppery nose clearing thrill. There are Camphor trees, the narcotic Angels Trumpets, fragrant Camelias and Frangipanis, Roses and the lovely Sweet Osmanthus. I have found a Star Anise tree whose little pods are still green at the moment and you can scratch, sniff and sample your way round the herb garden, with the Parsley, the Thymes, the Arugula and the amazingly sweet Sweetleaf herb which I had never seen before.
It may raise the odd eyebrow as you are casually grazing on the plants but those who don’t are missing some interesting experiences. You have to go about this with caution though. As I have said before there are probably more things in the garden that will kill you than cure you. But today, furthering my unofficial research for the possible “Eat you way round the Garden” guide for Leu and with Pedro’s expert help I sampled a few more “edibles”. I tried the tiny Strawberry Guava Psidium cattleianum and the Natal plum Carissa macrocarpa. You have to be careful with the Strawberry Guava as the very red and tempting ones often contain little worms as demonstrated somewhat gleefully by Pedro..I was not quite so keen after that, but they do taste good. The Natal Plum was Ok, slightly bitter but a beautiful deep red colour inside. I have brought back a green regular guava which I hope will ripen at home and is currently scenting the whole house..just wonderful.
My work today was interrupted by an exciting 4 hour loss of power due to the failure of the transformer which sits outside our apartment. Three large trucks and six large men arrived to replace it encouraged by all the locals who, not having any television to watch, re-lived the old days of community spirit. However I did manage to finish the heliconia, which I had just sketched before. It’s a bigger piece than usual 20 inches across, and has been sitting on a drawing board half done for over a week. I had to complete it without the plant, which is not at all ideal but it had finally given up the ghost in the fridge. This was another experiment with a different paper (this time NOT surface), because next week I have to start 7 coloured flower heads…as always there are some good and some not so good aspects to it .. but it’s all about practice.

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Heliconia Clinophila

Leaf of the Day: Pattipan Pepo

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The pattipan squash, or patty pan, or flying saucer, or scallop squash, Curcubito pepo, whatever you want to call it, is a pretty and versatile thing, eat it, use it as a decoration or as a fancy container for serving other food. Here it is starring alongside Joan Taylor in the classic 1949 Harryhausen movie.

The curcubita family is extensive.. very, over 300 varieties of creeping, twining, scrambling, fruit bearing, plants. This is a squash, is edible and is a member of the gourd family but not all gourds are edible. I remember a few gourds in the UK from years ago, little stripy knobbly ornamental things but here in the USA, both the gourds themselves and gourd art are big. Gourd art ranges from the absolutely 100% dreadful and kitch to the exquisite. I am longing to have a go! The shapes alone are a designers delight…. just a little taster of joys to come. These fantastic charts come from Ozark Country Creations here.

Thereare an awful lot of sites about gourds on the Internet. “The Gourd Reserve” here is a site awash with masses of information about these strange, wonderful and useful things. There is, naturally, an American Gourd Society here ( and, joy, there is a Florida chapter) and many many books devoted to gourd art.

All this for another post, possibly tomorrow, but for now this is little Pepo squash deserves at least some passing notes.
The word “squash” is a shortened form of the word askutasquash meaning “a green thing eaten raw” from the Algonquin language. The interesting and sympathetic Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island and expelled minister of the Salem Church (?) spent much of his life trying to understand the Indians customs and language, and published some of his observations in his 1643 book ” A Key into the Language of America “.
He mentions the “Askutasquash, their Vine fruit, which the English, from them, call Squashes about the bignesse of Apples of several colours, a sweet, light wholesome refreshing.”
Gourds on the other hand, called quonoasquash, were not grown for food, but dried and made into utensils and containers. You can see how useful they would be from the charts above.
These vegetables, (which are in fact a fruit, because they contain seeds, like tomoatoes) were a basic staple food for native Americans and early settler alike. Seeds, flesh, shoots, tendrils and flowers can be eaten.
Recipes abound on the Internet, but having a distinct aversion to the horrible slippery watery marrow that I was occasionally faced with as a child I haven’t really investigated many. Shame on me really as, if nothing else, these are so pretty. However after reading about them I intend to be more adventurous!.

I made a pencil and watercolour sketch, then a rough sketch in acrylics. I haven’t used acrylics for a while so it was a nice change. I think I was all watercoloured out from yesterday! I was sad not to find a couple of companions for Pepo but added a some blueberries that were languishing in the fridge.
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Curcubito Pepo and 3 Blueberries.