Friday, March 30, 2018

someone else's photograph

Sometimes lately I've drawn or painted from another person's photograph, always after asking permission from the photographer. Usually it's something posted on twitter. The good folks working at Kew Garden post lots of interesting plants, for example.

Last night, a writer - Michael Marshall Smith - posted a photograph of a plant I have never seen growing in the wild. I became a bit obsessed with trying to get the feeling of that photograph onto paper. I did not succeed, but at least gave it a few good tries over two days! Here is the sequence in order of appearance:





Many times after I finish a sketch I think of another way to approach the subject. This time I actually did it. But it's still not satisfying.
Hmmmm.
Also, don't know if sharing this will make an interesting post.
Don't feel that you have to say something nice in the comments - really.
~~~

P.S. There are still a few hours left to enter the giveaway.
I'll do the random number generator thing after midnight tonight.
Good luck, gardeners, or friends of gardeners!
~~~~~

7 comments:

  1. You didn't tell us the name of the plant! I see the labels for the post include "arum" so is that its name? Arum lily?

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    Replies
    1. I think that's what it is but I didn't label it because I'm not sure :)

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  2. Nice. There, I said it. (sorry, but that one was too good to resist!). Either way, I envy your talent with drawing - something I don't possess.

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  3. I can't tell you how many times I've thought I ought to take up sketching again. I even have a couple of sketch books but I never actually sit down and do it. I just think I'm going to do it. But what a nice exercise it would be, not to mention a record. I like that you tried several different techniques. I especially like the line version.

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    Replies
    1. It was the "drawing August" thing on twitter - started by a printmaker whose work I admire very much - that got me going, quite creakily at first. Sketching has turned out to be one of those "lone activity" things that can derive a lot of genuine support from an online community. I hope you'll feel like giving it another try :)

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  4. I really like the last one. I like how different your styles are.

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