Legacy of the Land Through Art Exhibit - Artwork Finished! Part I - Jack in the Pulpit

Update 11/8/13: SOLD! Thank you to the purchaser!

Update 10/11/13: Auction Site for Legacy of the Land Through Art is up!  

Visit the site to view, bid on and/or purchase artwork from the exhibit!

It has been quite some time since I updated you on my pieces for the Legacy of the Land Through Art Exhibit (via Legacy Land Conservancy) coming up next month. I spent a good deal of time working on sketches this summer and ended up with two final pieces for the exhibit by the September 9th deadline. This post covers the process for finishing the first of the two, my Jack in the Pulpit portrait in ink and colored pencil.

Jack in the Pulpit is a woodland perennial that I encountered quite a bit in my forays to Creekshead Nature Preserve, my assigned project property. Creekshead is known for its spring wildflower display, and I made a number of trips out there in April, May and June to explore the area.

Ironically, due to some tight scheduling in the spring and weather-related delays, I actually missed peak bloom! Luckily, my focus is on plant portraits and details. There were still a number of individual plants blooming during my explorations that I was able to get a broad picture of what species were in the preserve and which I might want to depict on paper. Jack in the pulpit was one of the species that was present in great numbers, right alongside the trail, each time I went to the preserve. Its distinctive flower, a large, cylindrical, hooded flower with beautiful maroon/brown stripes, made it top on my list for a plant portrait.

I was able to observe and photograph the jack in the pulpit through early spring when the leaves were just starting to form and unfurl through mid-late summer when the berries were present in green, before the fall turn to bright red. I worked mainly from my photographs as my time in the field was very limited.

Studies and Sketches

Here are some of my initial sketches and studies as I began to get a feel for the plant:

Field study - sketches and notes.                             Graphite study from reference photos.

  Color study - using Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils.  

Composition
 
I struggled with what exactly to show in my finished piece. I wanted to depict the different stages of the plant as I observed it, but also wanted to show both the male and female of the species, the former with one set of three leaves, the latter with two sets of three leaves, each with one of the unique, pitcher-like flowers. I played around with sketches on tracing paper and also printed and cut out sketches so that I could move them around, trying out different layouts.

I played with the idea of making more of a composed floral piece vs. showing the plants in a more linear fashion in order to better see the features of the striping on the flower and hood as well as the mottling on the stems. 

Above is a test composition that I liked as it shows the broad, mature, umbrella-like leaves above the flower, as well as the female plant and some of the early spring versions of the plant with leaves unfurling. However, I felt like the composition was hiding some of the details of each of those and I also thought that if I rendered them all in color, they might blend together too much.

 



Here is another composition that I felt showed the plants more clearly, but it seemed to be a bit too busy, without a clear path for the eye. I also started running out of time and with the level of detail I wanted to give each plant, I wasn't sure I could complete it by the deadline!

Ultimately, I decided on a more linear composition with fewer plants - just one male and one female. In one of my last trips to the preserve, I did get a chance to photograph the fruit directly, so I used that to fill in the last bit of the portrait, showing more of the life cycle of the plant, which is what I wanted to achieve.

I worked with a local gallery, Dexter Picture Frame Company, to get both this and the other piece framed professionally for the exhibit. I chose to go with a natural wood frame, in keeping with the organic nature of the piece. I also kept the ties local by choosing a Paul Hickman frame from his Urban Ashes line which uses salvaged or deconstructed wood from here in Michigan. This is the clear cherry wood, and I thought it complimented the colors in the stem very well.
 

Stay tuned for Part II for details on the second piece that I completed for the exhibit!

Daffodil Sketches - Pen and Ink

I had a chance to sketch some beautiful yellow daffodils that I bought from the store. These are done in pen and ink on Strathmore drawing paper. I haven't had time yet to add color - perhaps soon! I just loved seeing these in various stages of opening up. I practically itch to draw as spring comes around. So many flowers, buds, branches, and leaves - so little time! Getting a head start with some store-bought flowers will help prepare for when the flower beds and trees start blooming. Fingers-crossed that it will be soon! :)

Digging through old sketchbooks - travel sketches

I was digging through some old sketchbooks and found a couple of travel sketches that I thought would be fun to post. Nothing fancy, but they definitely take me back to exactly when and where I drew them. It's something I would like to do more of - keeping a sketch journal either when I travel or just here at home.

This first one is from a trip to France that we took - we were in the city of Caen for a few days and I could see, from our hotel room, this beautiful window on the building next door.


The one below is a view from Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, California. I tagged along with my husband who was attending a conference there, so I had some leisurely time to just sit and draw, people watch, etc. It was even more fun when people would stop by to chat and see what I was doing! Great way to pass some time.

Pencil drawing of Lucy - sprawled in the sun

This is a pencil drawing of our cat, Lucy. She was sprawled in the sun on the floor one day. I did this to try and experiment with rendering her fur. I like how it turned out, though it is more of a rough finish than I usually do. It would be interesting to take this and render it in pen and ink, or finer pencil, or even colored pencil. She is a gray cat, so the graphite works well in terms of color for a sketch like this.

Iris studies

These are some studies that I did of a beautiful iris plant this summer. I was trying to work on the form of the leaf and bud and also played around with some detailed studies of the petals.

I wanted to see what I could do with colored pencil as well as some ink.