Starting today, I will upload a video daily on my Patreon, within a project spread throughout June in which I will draw a botanical topic per day. June is dedicated to flowers. I will draw with ink and watercolor on a A3 paper, grid of 5x5cm squares, with an empty space on the right for … Continue reading Daily Sketches – June 30 Flowers – 1. Fuchsia
Have you noticed how many anemone species are booming in the spring? I was surprised to see in our area no less than 5 species of anemone: 1. A. ranunculoides (yellow anemone, yellow wood anemone, or buttercup anemone)2. A. sylvestris syn. Anemonoides sylvestris (snowdrop anemone)3. A. blanda (the balkan anemone)4. A. nemorosa ( wood anemone) … Continue reading Sketching a Blue Anemone with Ink and Watercolor
Even though they are impressive, the botanical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci are not highly publicized. Partly because there are only few of them and partly because, in the spirit of that time, they were conceived as preliminary sketches for paintings, and not as drawings in themselves or as in-depth botanical studies. In fact, not … Continue reading How to Draw Flowers like Leonardo da Vinci
Many artists today, including me, draw with liners. They are smudge proof, waterproof and allegedly lightfast. They provide you with a constant flow of ink, they are not messy and easy to transport. Drawing with liners looks more like etching. It can be brought to the level of fine art and it is something I'm … Continue reading Drawing with Dip Pen and Ink. Marks
While with watercolor I came to the conclusion that I am not interested in photorealistic rendering and I'm happy with more loose, suggestive recordings, for which any paper, brush or watercolour will do, with ink I'm still searching for the best ink, nib and paper. By "best" I mean the perfect equilibrium between the quality … Continue reading Drawing with Dip Pen and Ink. Materials
These days my creative work is divided between Botanical Portraits and the Botanical Journal.Drawing portraits of plants is mostly about beauty and art. Using old masters techniques and translating them into what I think I can call already my own handwriting, I try to capture the essence, the graceful movement, the perfection I see in … Continue reading Between Art and Science
I came across this Geastrum (earthstar) mushroom in a coniferous forest by the end of November. Geastrum is a species of inedible and saprophage fungus, it obtain its nutrients by decomposing green matter. The fruit body develops at first underground (hypogeous) in the form of a small ball. As it matures, it pushes up through … Continue reading Drawing and Painting a Geastrum Mushroom in my Botanical Journal
I uploaded a new class on my Patreon on how to draw a Physalis fruit with fruit with sanguine on red prepared paper. The method was largely used by the old renaissance masters and most of the botanical masterpieces of Leonardo are made by this red-on-red technique. Sanguine, a soft stone with a high content … Continue reading How to Draw Botanical Art like the Old Masters – Video Tutorial
“When, Oh draftsmen, you desire to find relaxation in games you should always practice such things as may be of use in your profession, by giving your eye good practice in judging accurately of the breadth and length of objects. Thus, to accustom your mind to such things, let one of you draw a straight line...
"I used to lie down on the grass and draw the blades as they grew, until every square foot of meadow, or mossy bank, became a possession of me." - John Ruskin. I`m happy to announce that my Patreon page is on.Part teaching, part sharing. Art is the love of my life, a consuming obsession, … Continue reading Patreon page is on
