Hello! I am an award-winning British artist creating beautiful, realistic botanical art.

My detailed plant portraits blend artistry and science to fascinate and connect with the viewer.

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I create art which invites you to slow down and examine the awe-inspiring beauty of a flower or leaf.

Nature is indeed the best artist, but I aim to capture and distill in my portraits what we all love the most about plants.

"There is a quality to the best botanical art that captures the essence as well as the detail. Just like a good human portrait, there is an indefinable element that seemingly evades mere description or photography."

MONTY DON,

PATRON OF THE SOCIETY OF BOTANICAL ARTISTS

Contact Katy

Get in touch for more information on any of my original artworks, framed prints, or if you would like to discuss a botanical commission or commercial project.

The tulips put on an incredible show at #keukenhof 🌷

I’m late to post this but life is getting in the way of the socials! Wishing everyone a wonderful day of sunshine and flowers 🌸 🌼 🌹

‘Defloresence’ Part 3 ..

Details and full tonal range 🤍🩶🖤
As ever, how to achieve balance with a very detailed monochrome subject and not lose the light?

Real time elapsed ~10hrs, a couple of days.
Always leave it for a day on a shelf, periodic reviews with fresh eyes, and come back to adjust.

Pencils - @fabercastelluk #fabercastell9000 #fabercastellmattgraphite 2H H HB 2B
The matt graphite achieves fab dense matt tones, no shine.
A blending stump to press in some light graphite dust where initial layer wasn’t enough (see Part 2). And a soft brush to remove stray dust which makes paper grubby if it gets pressed in.

Why don’t more botanical artists post reels of the drawing stage? Generally, bot artists are technically brilliant and usually draw from life. I’d love to see more WIPs shared xx

#drawing #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #hydrangea #artist #artofinstagram #drawingoftheday #artreel #godalmingartist #surreyartist #graphite #graphitedrawing #hydrangeaart

Tonal Values ✍🏻🩶..
Part 2 vid of ‘Deflorescence’ - study of a withered hydrangea in graphite.
Real time elapsed = 40mins.

After the line drawing, I map out core tonal values, ignoring detail. Its hard to resist temptation of overworking a small area, going too dark and losing the light, especially with small intricate textured subjects (most botanical art!). Working with hard pencils only (2H, H..) these smooth layers also create a lovely base.

#botanicalart #flowerdrawings #graphitedrawing #pencildrawing #drawfromlife #artistsoninstagram #wip #wipdrawing #wipart #surreyartist #godalming

Let’s draw .. 🩶✍🏻

Part 1 of ‘Deflorescence’ - outline drawing of withered hydrangea graphite study. Tonal values Part2, Details Part 3.
Real time elapsed for Part 1 = 2hours (inc tea break 🫖)

Very inconsistent lighting here - I sit in front of a bifold door for max light and it’s been so utterly grey and miserable, the vids are super gloomy. But you can spot the occasional sunlit moment! ⛅️

#botanicalart #flowerdrawings #graphitedrawing #pencildrawing #drawfromlife #artistsoninstagram #wip #wipdrawing #wipart #surreyartist #godalming

All the colours! Sweetgum branch (Liquidamber styraciflua).
🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🤎
I finally got around to adding the dried gumball, which has burst open to shed its two winged seeds and a load of chaff. I was going to add more (dissection?) but this was what I had in mind when starting out and I don’t think the composition allows for much more.

297x210mm, #watercolour @winsorandnewton on #stcuthbertsmill Bockingford HP 300gsm cotton

#watercolor #watercolorpainting #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #surreyartist #godalmingartist #mumlife #paintingoftheday #sweetgum #treepainting #rainbowleaves

Witches Balls.. Monkey Balls.. Gumballs. fascinating to study, but a bugger on the lawn.

Liquidamber styraciflua (sweetgum) seedpods.

#watercolour #surreyartist #surreylife #godalmingcommunity #artistsoninstagram #artistmum #botanicalart #tree #sweetgum #paintingwip #seeds

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams 🤍

An hour spent drawing this fragile hydrangea flower in the weak early Spring sunlight.
#fabercastell pencils 2H >> H >> HB #fabercastellpittgraphitematt >> 2B >> H

#graphite #graphitedrawing #botanicaldrawing #artistsoninstagram #artoftheday #reelart #surreyartist #haslemereartsociety #realismart #realismdrawing #pencildrawing #hydrangeas #flowerdrawings #fragile

Back to the drawing board after half term with the crazies 🧘🏻‍♀️ ✍🏻
Desiccation gives us such obliging tonal subjects.
There’s grace and softness in this rescued deadhead (decapited by errant football)

#graphite #drawing #hydrangea #drawdrawdraw #dailydrawing #mindfulness #artoftheday #ilovedrawing #realismdrawing #botanical #botanicalpencildrawing #botanicalillustraion #surreyartist #haslemereartsociety #godalming #godalmingcommunity

A very happy Christmas to you all! My watercolour painting of Fir and Eucalyptus wreath, with gorgeous gold foil 🌟 I hope you like it 🌟
Lots of love to you and yours from me and mine
❤️💖💝❤️💖💝❤️💖💝❤️💖💝❤️💖💝

#arty #christmascard #christmaslove #christmasart #watercolour #botanicalart #christmastime #surreylife #surreyartist #godalming #godalmingcommunity #mumartist #mumlife #artist #cardmaking

Meet Me Underneath the Mistletoe 🤍💚🤍
Remix of a couple of reels that you all reeeally seemed to like this time last year. It’ll be interesting to see how the IG Algorithm 🤖 treats it this year.
Painted this stock [free] mistletoe pic last min last year, with some changes inc ribbon, for Xmas cards. Carol of the Bells is one of my alltime favs 🎶 but it will forever be Home Alone (alongside O Holy Night..)
It’s Sunday afternoon and nearly time for a family board game and a Baileys. We have a Panto later! 😮‍💨
💫 E N J O Y 💫

Thrilled and proud to have been offered Fellowship of the @societybotanicalartists. I was an honorary Student member for years whilst studying for my SBA Diploma, but I needed to demonstrate dedication to my practice since graduating, so this has been a long journey.

I set my heart on becoming a Fellow back in 2019 when I applied for the course, noting that there was a clear path to recognition from an esteemed worldwide society with benchmark standards of excellence. It’s been such a wonderful learning experience, with so many friends made along the way. I’m delighted to be (officially) part of this warm and welcoming community! Early Christmas gift indeed.

Congratulations to all my newbie Fellows, I’m excited to see everyone’s beautiful applications being shared online @societybotanicalartists (<give them a follow if you don’t already!)

#societybotanicalartistsfellow #societyofbotanicalartists #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #surreyartist #sbafellow #ukartist #plantart #plantartist

You can tell the weather from the changing light! 🌧️ ☀️
Liquidambar, sweet gum - a quick study in #watercolour 💜🩷❤️🧡💛💚💛🧡❤️🩷💜

#autumnvibes #autumncolors #autumnleaves #watercolor #artreel #artwip #surrey #artistsoninstagram #surreyartist #leafpainting #paint #paintingoftheday #paintingwatercolor #mindfulliving

Surely the best tree for Autumn colour - the sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) has leaves similar to maple 🍁 which turn from green to yellow, orange, pink, crimson, then deep purple. There’s a lovely sweet aromatic smell when the leaves are bruised. It’s also an RHS Gardeners Merit award winner 🥇
I fancied starting with this paler-pink underside leaf, then will move onto upper-side ones in green/crimson/purple in the coming days. The spiky acid green “gumball” fruit will be painted last as contrasting flourish!
Undersides of leaves are fun to paint because the veins are prominent.
This pic is taken under a daylight bulb - the light was appalling all day as it frankly pissed it down.
🩷🤎💜🧡💚💛❤️

#autumnleaves #sweetgumtree #watercolour #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #surreylife #godalming #godalmingcommunity #surreyartist #surreyart #mumwhopaints #artistwip #wipart

🍁 Wet-in-wet first layers 🍁💦 #watercolour

A little study of Liquidambar styraciflua, sweet gum, with rainbow Autumn leaves and spiky green fruit 🩷❤️🧡💛💚

#botanicalart #botanicalillustration #watercolourwip #reelart #autumnleaves #surreylife #surreymums #artistsoninstagram #artreels #painting #paintingtips

White poppy tonal study, no 🤍or 🖤 🤔
WIP // white album

#watercolour #graphic #botanicalart

#surreyartist #flowerart #watercolor #artwip #wipartwork #reelart #coolart #whiteflowers

I’ve spent much of this year singing with @godalmingchoralsociety1 (est.1856!) to prepare for Verdi’s Requiem 🎶🖤🤍

Yesterday, we joined with 3 other Surrey choirs to put on a truly dramatic performance of this famous operatic masterpiece at the gorgeous @grangeparkopera .

Alongside my fellow top sop buddies @gemster78 @lanelizzie I had such an exhilarating and fun time belting out the fiercely dramatic Dies Irae, stumbling through stereophonic Sanctus, and wringing every last emotive drop from plaintive Libera Me. My 10yo son came and said, “I actually enjoyed it mum, it was quite exciting music” 🥹

Tickets sold out in super quick time months ago, so I didn’t get the chance to promote the concert on here, but if you’re #surrey based I can’t recommend this musical venue highly enough! Gorgeous setting and fabulous rotunda 🎶🌸
(pic credits- choirs on stage, Gemma’s dad; full audience website pic Fintan O’Conner)

Apologies that this post is a little cul de sac diversion from botanicals, but music is art, right?! and it’s back to the drawing board tmrw ✍🏻🎨

#surreylife #surreyhills #surreymums #verdi #grangeparkopera #godalmingcommunity #godalming #godalmingmusic #surreymusic #opera

Glorious sunshine to highlight!
WIP // The White Album

#whiteflowers #nowhitepaint
#nowhitepaintwasused #botanicalart #flowerpower #flowerportrait #dahlia #haslemerelife #godalmingcommunity #surreylife #surreyartist #mumlife

Dahlia // Line drawing ✍🏻 1hr >>
graphite #flowerdrawing #botanicalart #wipart
Next, add tone 🤍🩶🖤

Painting in the leaves for the lovely Rosa “Golden Celebration” #davidaustinroses. I was trying to make this rose portrait glow as if in glorious golden summer sunshine, so the leaves needed strong highlights to match the lighting of the flower. As ever, I adore high tonal contrast and tend to sketch in the light first then go dark quickly to develop the form and show me where all the middle tones should be mapped. I know others prefer to work methodically from light to dark. Note, with watercolour, you have to be very careful not to lose the light, as opposed to other mediums where you can add highlights at the end. I’m always super critical that I’ve gone too heavy, but.. all light shines brightest in the dark 💫

#roseart #watercolourpainting #wip #wipart #artistsoninstagram #artoftheday #surreyartist #godalmingartist #haslemereartsociety #mumartist #commissionsopen #commissionswelcome #botanicalart #flowerart

Live life in warm yellows! Sunshine hues for this glorious Rosa, #davidaustinroses “Golden Celebration” 💛
Excuse the low production value - end of term haste means no time to waste on rigging or lighting! Plus such changeable skies each day ☀️ ⛅️ 🌧️ ⛅️ ☀️

#reelart #reelartist #rose #rosa #artwip #watercolourart #flowerart #flowerpainting #artist #surreyartist #godalmingcommunity

In May, I wrote a little piece for Surrey magazine, The Bridge, on one of our (unsung, imo) local heroes, Gertrude Jekyll. She was famous in her lifetime for magnificent ground-breaking garden designs across the world (more than 400) and lived on the outskirts of Godalming at Munstead Wood.

I wrote in my article (and the SBA diploma essay it originated from) that I felt Jekyll is not particularly well known beyond gardening enthusiasts, and certainly not as celebrated as many of Godalming’s past residents. Dear old Jack Phillips of Titanic fame has a pub, memorial garden, and permanence in local schools’ curriculum!

It’s wonderful and timely that the @nationaltrust has just announced they have purchased her estate with a view to restoring it and opening to the public.

This will be a fantastic NT addition to our beautiful corner of Surrey! Plus it means the public can pop to Munstead Wood then on to Winkworth Arboretum (also NT) a mile down the road.

Jekyll’s innovation in garden design was due in no small part to her deep appreciation of colour theory, learned at art school. Both Jekyll and Dr Fox, who created the visionary Winkworth Arboretum, wanted to “paint the landscape with colour”, the former with garden borders, the latter with trees.

The article is on my website (link in bio, or type this into your browser..
katybennett.art/projects

Swipe to see my painting of Rosa “Munstead Wood” (@david_austin_roses , sadly discontinued)

Credit to @timeoutlondon for the news image/story.

#munsteadwood #godalmingcommunity #surreylife #surreyhills #gertrudejekyll #gertrudejekyllgarden #nationaltrust #surreydaysout #surreydaysoutwithkids #godalming #busbridge

Very proud of these beautiful certificates received in the past 12mths from the @societybotanicalartists.
I need to find a quiet moment to hang these properly on the wall with some of my favourite paintings and drawings! The kids said, “Mummy, you can put them on the fridge if you want” (prime position, obvs)

#societyofbotanicalartists #sbaplantae2023 #artistsoninstagram #botanicalartist #artistlife #artistmum #surreyartist #surreyart

Delighted to find two of my paintings sold at the private view of Cranleigh Open Exhibition 🔴🔴

The little Spring Bluebells, with an Early bumblebee, is still available if you’d like to give it home.
Painted with professional Winsor&Newton lightfast watercolours on 300gsm cotton hotpress paper.
I will be using these lovely subtle ivory wood frames again as I received some good feedback 🤍🤍🤍

The show is on until 16th June and there are some lovely interesting pieces in a variety of media on the theme of Wild Things.

Photo credit for PV @cranleigharts.
I didn’t manage get a clear shot of my pieces in situ.

#cranleighartscentre #surreyart #cranleighcommunity #godalmingcommunity #surreyartist #artexhibition

Pteridium aquilinum - bracken fern 🫶🏻

Finished this late last night with a glass of celebratory vino after a fab day in London stewarding at Plantae. I nearly left it behind at @mallgalleries (demo-painting) as I was racing to beat rush hour tube with a massive packing box under an armpit. Less haste more speed - volte face at Waterloo, back to pick up Little Fern, then had to get a packed train back home with box blocking the aisle.
Many hours and wines later, I got a bit trigger-happy and stuck in some unplanned shadows on the stalks as a final flourish. Painting under an artificial light, even with a decent “daylight” bulb, it’s so hard to get hue and tone correct, so it was literally the first thing I thought about when I opened my eyes. Had I gone to bold, too blue, too random!? Anyhoo, nothing ventured.. and it’s done and handed in for @cranleigharts exhibition! Phewf.

#fiddleheads #bracken #watercolour #watercolour_planet #painting #botanicalart #mumartist #mumartistlife #godalmingcommunity #surreylife #surreyhills #surreyartist #artexhibition

Happy World Botanical Art Day!

Hyacinthoides non-scripta -
English bluebells 💙💜🩵

#dowhatyoulove #loveart #botanical #botanicalartist #worldwidebotanicalartday #lovenature #bluebellseason #bluebells #wallart #artprint

My ‘Charlie’s Sunflower’ won the Exhibiting Excellence Award for Graphite at the SBA Plantae 2023 exhibition, I’m so happy!
When I told my son this morning before school he said he was really proud 🥹
I’m feeling very honoured and had the best night at the packed-out Private View with my amazing @jimbo_bennett, meeting such lovely talented artists.

I was asked a few times whether it was drawn life size - yes, you can see the severed flowerhead next to a 30cm ruler for ref. >>
We worked out there were ~2k seeds! It grew even bigger than the photo shown, but we went on summer hols end of August and came back to it listing and droopy, so that’s when we chopped its head off.

I’m going back to steward at the show on Thursday and can’t wait to take my time to admire the hundreds of gorgeous artworks. Congratulations to all the artists involved and the incredibly hard working @societybotanicalartists council who organised the show.

#graphitedrawing #artaward #sbaplantae2023 #mallgalleries #botanicalart #londonexhibition

Putting on a global art exhibition ✨Behind the scenes at #SBAplantae2023 @mallgalleries 🇬🇧 by @societybotanicalartists 🌺🌿🌸🌴🌷🌻

#artshow
#newexhibition
#artexhibition
#mallgalleries
#artcollector
#thingstodoinlondon
#londonartist
#botanicalartist
#botanicalart

Fiddleheads unfurling 🫶🏻💚 bracken fern WIP

For @hallwardy B & D, who love #hydonsball

#hambledon #ferns #fiddleheads #godalming #godalmingcommunity #surreylife #surreyhills #surreyartist #botanicalart #paintingwip #paintingvideo #paintingreels #watercolourvideo #watercolourart #plantlover #plantart #commissionsopen #commissionpainting

🐝 Bombus pratorum (early bumblebee) in watercolour. A small, cute, agile little bee, with a medium tongue able to hang and feed upside down on bluebells.

#paintingreels #watercolour #botanicalillustration #bees #beepainting #wildlife #wildlifelovers #wildflowers #mindfulness #mindfulawareness #mindfulart #relaxingvideos #artoftheday #surreyartist #surreyhills #godalming #mumartist #learntopaint #learnwatercolor

Artists! An incredible lineup of botanical artists will be demoing their mastery of chosen media at #SBAplantae2023 @mallgalleries London 🇬🇧

Booking is now open - very limited places, £20, which also pays for entry to PLANTAE2023 to see the best of #botanicalart from 180 global artists.

Type this into your browser for times and how to book-

bit.ly/plantaedemos

Weds 17/5, 11.00 & 2.00 - Billy Showell @billy_showell (watercolour)

Thurs 18/5, 11.00 & 2.00 - Shevaun Doherty @shevaundohertyartist (vellum)

Fri 19/5, 11.00 & 2.00 - Amber Halsall @amberhalsallartist (coloured pencil)

Sat 20/5, 11.00 - Rui Jiang @rui_j_ (oils)
Sat 20/5, 2.00 - Guy William Eves @guywilliameves (graphite)

PLANTAE 2023 event page:
Bit.ly/sbaplantae2023
For opening times and how to get there. This is not a ticketed event so no need to book the gallery in advance.

@societybotanicalartists

#sbaplantae2023 #londonartist #londonart #londonartscene #londonartgallery #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #londonwhatson #artlovers #londonlife #artdemonstration #learntopaint #learntopaintwatercolor #paintflowers #artcollector #surreyartist #surreyart

Bluebells 💙 pure watercolour WIP

#paintingwip #watercolour #artreels #relaxing #relaxingvideos #artistsoninstagram #arttherapy #paintingflowers #bluebells #reels #paintingoftheday #godalming #godalmingcommunity #surreyartist #surreyart #artcollector #wallart #wildflowers

Happy Primrose Day 19/4 💛

So named to commemorate the anniversary of the death of British Prime Minister, Disraeli, who was frequently sent primroses by Queen Victoria and expressed his love of the flower. I like the fact that this day marks an abundance of these golden wildflowers - the ‘prima rosa’, first roses 💛💛💛 This was my first proper botanical illustration work and I enjoyed working through the dissections of male/female “pin and thrum” flowers. UK law prohibits the uprooting of any wildflower, so I duly purchased a fine specimen to study from my local RHS Wisley garden centre, dissected some of the flowers, washed the roots in order to check out the tap root, then carefully planted it my front garden where it’s thriving. Not so wild in origin, but still hardy!

Primula vulgaris (2021), 420x297, watercolour on Bockingford #stcuthbertsmill HP 300gsm.

#primrose #primroseday #godalmingcommunity #surreyartist #watercolour #watercolourpainting #wildflowers #wildflowerart #paintingoftheday

This is the full scan of my graphite sunflower drawing (~600x850mm)
I’m thrilled that it has been selected for Plantae 2023- Mall Galleries London, 15-20 May.

I’ve been invited to trial Bard, Google's generative AI tool, rival to ChatGPT. I asked Bard, “Describe a sunflower for an Instagram post.”
Read to the bottom for Bard’s response 🧠✍🏻

This week, an open letter was signed by 1,400 tech leaders calling for a moratorium on the hyperspeed development of large AI systems. It’s feared that mega labs are creating unsupervised minds that could quickly outnumber, outsmart and replace us. I'm strongly in favour of open debate on ethical frameworks and safety protocols.

Anyway, here is Bard’s sunflower post. What do you think? I’m quite impressed that it chose empathy and symbolism rather than scientific features!

💻
Sunflowers are the happiest flowers in the world. They always look up to the sun, and they never complain, no matter how hot or dry it is. Sunflowers are a symbol of hope, and they remind us that even in the darkest of times, there is always light to be found. Sunflowers are also a reminder to be grateful for what we have, and to appreciate the beauty of nature. So next time you see a sunflower, take a moment to appreciate its beauty, and let it fill you with happiness and hope.

#sunflower #AI #bardai #graphiteart #graphitebotanical #plantsmakepeoplehappy #botanicalart #humancreativity #pencildrawing #artoftheday #sbaplantae23 #sbaplantae2023

Eryngium planum - sea holly - symbolising independence and attraction. In Elizabethan times it was used as an aphrodisiac and is mentioned by Shakespeare’s Falstaff in the Merry Wines of Windsor. The Romany Gypsies would give sea holly to their stud stallions to make them more virile!

I am clearly drawn to intricate subjects - #goldenratios bring balance to my right and left brain, the intersection of art and science! 🎨🤓

This #botanicalillustration in pure #watercolour lays out the identifiable characteristics and dissections.
Teeny star flowers were painted as negative space. No white paint, but I did scratch out some finer details on the domed umbels with a scalpel.

People often mistake Eryngium for Cirsium (thistles), but they are from the completely separate Apiaceae family. The flowerhead is an umbellifer, with numerous tiny flowers radiating from a central point, as opposed to the sunflower and thistle of my last posts (Asteraceae family) which have tightly-packed, whirling inflorescence. More confusing still, sea holly is not related to holly (Ilex), but you’d be forgiven for thinking so due to the spiky leaves. Note that the basal leaves are heart-shaped and rounded; the stem rosettes are shiny and spiky.

I absolutely love this architectural and long-lasting branched flower stem in bouquets. It was such an obliging subject to study! Plus I love love love the dreamy colours.

Painted last year for my DipSBA portfolio, it featured in the SBA Plantae show @mallgalleries jn London and I had it pro-scanned after some interest in prints. I’m getting organised to re-launch my e-commerce print shop soon with Giclee museum-quality Limited Edition prints, so drop me a quick note if it’s of interest and I’ll be sure to update when they drop!

#botanicalillustration #seaholly #plantart #plantartist #flowerart #wallart #botanical #watercolourpainter #watercolourart #surreyartist #mumartist #artoftheday #artistsoninstagram #iloveflowers #artprints #artforsale #artforyourhome #artwork #artistoninstagram #sbadldc17

Portrait of Cirsium vulgare, symbolising happiness, luck and prosperity 💜 The spear thistle, or Flower of Scotland, is duly named for its super sharp, pointed leaves. Legend has it that it was adopted by the Scots as their defiant emblem after invading Norsemen tried to ambush the Ayrshire clans. In the dead of night, a stealthy, barefoot Norwegian stood on a hardy thistle and screamed out in pain. Thus alerted, the clan drove back the hapless Norsemen and Scotland was saved, hurrah.
We went to one of those wild camping sites, branded “eco” (a bare field). I needed a midnight comfort break, but couldn’t locate flip flops, so I can attest to the humble thistle’s incredibly lethal defence system.

I adored painting this one, not least as I’m half Scottish (née MacFarlane, dad from Edinburgh) and have wanted to tackle it for ages. Hope you like it!

A4 size, #stcmill Saunders Waterford HP, #winsorandnewton S7m s2 brush (usually), with #winsorandnewtonwatercolors pro

#commisionsopen #commissionpainting #commissionart
#wallart #thistle #scotland #wildflowers #watercolourart #flowerart #flowerartist #botanical_art_club #botanical #botanicalart #floralart #surreyartist

Thistle 💜🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #watercolour #wipart
Cirsium vulgare. See my last post for the spiny bracts.

#thistle #scotishthistle #artoftheday #watercolourtutorial #learntopaint #fineart #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #surreyartist

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) - WIP #watercolour #artcommission #scottish collector

Nice botanical segue from my last project - thistles are in the same aster family as sunflowers, except they only have composite purple disk florets (sunflowers have disk and ray flowers).

I’ve started with the iconic ball of spiny overlapping bracts (involucre) which are a key ID feature of spear thistles. More #Fibonacci spirals; they crop up in most of Nature’s design. I did a rough tonal sketch back in Jan to get my brain familiar with this subject and decide on the composition. I tend to map out very detailed subjects in faint dry(ish) brush, relying on basic pencil outline. So, the spirals were initially simple lines, then bracts dry-painted over taking perspective around the ball into account, plus how the bracts peel downwards nearer the base. The spirals only started to come to life when I blocked in the very dark tones (same as my sunflower), so as ever the brain wants the full tonal range in order for form to take shape.

Finally, drawing in the super fine woolly webbing between the bracts. Not spider/insect made, I think they are viscous threads created as the bracts unfurl from the bulb (anyone know? I couldn’t find much via google research). Another ID feature- spear thistles have quite an open web of these threads with gaps in between, whereas woolly thistles have a thick matting across the bracts.

I’ll post the gorgeous purple crown of florets next!

#thistle #scottishthistle #botanicalillustration #watercolourflowers #realisticart #artrealism #wipart #artreels #artistsoninstagram #howtopaint #howtopaintflowers #howtowatercolor

FriYAY, it’s done! Rictus grin for Mr B 📸 to mark the finished piece (>>>)
I’ve REALLY pushed myself, artistically and physically! Eye fatigue, wrist ache and posture issues. Some big lessons learned, as always. You never know you have it in you until you try. Thanks again to everyone who read these 🌻 posts and supported me along the way - your enthusiasm was enormously encouraging. Big projects take a long time.

#sunflowerdrawing #graphiteartist #slowart #slowartistsclub #artistsoninstagram #imadethis #idrewthis #pencildrawing #pencilart #botanicalart #botanicalillustration

Drawing disk florets on Charlie’s Sunflower 🌻 I tried a new approach, starting with graphite powder to sketch the spirals and achieve a basic mid-tone.
Then l lifted out the placement of the flowerheads with a putty rubber, before going in with my fav #fabercastell 9000 H pencil to draw the teeny petals, followed by trusty HB to demarcate with darker tones.
The graphite dust was created by sanding a FC 8B pencil, which I hardly ever use as I find it too smudgy and dark. However, it lifted beautifully and I’m glad to get use out of it. I just had to be very sparing with the dust and make sure it didn’t slip under the protective tracing paper covering the rest of the piece and cause dirty smudges. I also didn’t want any kind of burnished, shiny effect, but the @archespapers HP tooth held up marvellously. I personally don’t generally like the soft-focused, photographic look of graphite powder/rubber highlights combo drawing as I think mark-making is essential to describing any subject, but I didn’t shortcut much actual drawing in the end. It just helped me get the tones and spirals down. A useful technique, nonetheless, to have in the toolkit!
Would love any thoughts or advice on using graphite dust ✏️🖤🧐

#graphitebotanical #graphitedrawing #botanicalillustration #botanicalart #sunflower #sunflowerdrawing #pencildrawing #surreyartist #botanicalartist #flowerart #artistsoninstagram #artreels #reelart #artwip #drawingprocess #howtodraw

🌻WIP Charlie’s Sunflower >> Bracts and Ray florets complete ✔️
Next. Hundreds of withered little florets to fill the remainder of the disk. I am trying to work out a process with the necessary spirals. Will share!

@fabercastelluk #graphite
Drawn slightly larger than life, A1 size, 894x842mm.

For the background, read my earlier posts - my son Charlie grew this from seeds he planted me for Mother’s Day, March’22 🌱💕🌻
We decapitated it in Sept to harvest the seeds

#graphitebotanical #graphite #graphitedrawing #sunflower #sunflowerdrawing #wipart #wipwednesday #wipdrawing #botanicalart #botanicalillustration

🌻Hairy bracts >> drawing negative space // Sunflower WIP
~ #graphite #fabercastell @fabercastelluk
~ 594x841mm

#drawingreels #drawingwip #graphitedrawing #sunflower #botanicalart #drawingoftheday #slowart #slowartistclub #pencildrawing

Thinking of Ukraine and all she stands for today 🇺🇦😔💪🏻🌻

#sunflowerdrawing #graphitedrawing #wipart #ukraine

Seeds done, over 2k of them ✔️🌻 I’ve added one of my reference pics so you can see just what a whopper it is (40cm diameter!) Note that the rest of the disc is still covered with the withered little florets, which I’m leaving until later.
I’m onto the bracts and ray florets now - a refreshing change 😮‍💨

#graphitedrawing #botanicaldrawing #botanicalillustration #fabercastell #sunflower #sunflowerart #sacredgeometry #fibonacci #fibonaccisequence #drawingoftheday #drawingart #flowerart #surreyartist #mumartist #slowart #slowartistsclub #slowartmovement #mindfulart

🌻 drawing sunflower seeds, WIP. 2/3rds of the way there with this 40cm diameter inflorescence, with a few rings of withered disk florets still to draw, then onwards to tackle the decaying droopy bracts and toothy leaves. I may be a little unhinged as it’s half term (and we’ve had sickness bug, man flu and a planned day in hospital), but I’m absolutely loving drawing this once the kids are in bed. I just need my brain to stay alert enough to pivot the angles, then I’m mostly in the zone and it’s just lovely mindful little mark-making. The emerging spirals are intensely satisfying. I spend around 45mins on the basic drawing of each arc, then the same again fiddling. Flow-edit-flow-edit. Occupational hazard - my head tilts around the arcs, eyes level with each seed angle, so the neck ache is horrendous!

Each seed is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, 137.5°, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals, where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers.

In this very large sunflower head, which my son grew from seed, there are 89 in one direction and 144 in the other 😮‍💨

This pattern produces the most efficient packing of seeds mathematically possible within the flower head 🤓🤩

#sunflower#spirals#naturelovers#patternsinnature#sunflowerseeds#graphitedrawing#botanicaldrawing#drawingoftheday#fibonacci#naturalfractals#mindfulness#mindfulart#mumlife#mumlifeuk#godalmingcommunity

Sunflower 🌻 WIP, halfway to drawing the full seedhead, seed by seed

#sunflower #sunflowerdrawing #graphitedrawing #graphiteflower #drawing #drawingwip #drawingreels #pencildrawing #botanicalart #botanicaldrawing #mumartist #mumlife

Charlie’s Sunflower 🌻 WIP
The trickiest part is the subtle shift in seed angles, which mean the tone must adjust (light source is top left). Also, each seed must have correct stripe placement based on the angle, but the teeny clean white highlights are hard to leave blank whist also striving for the dark tones of the seeds.
I can already see lot of tweaks I need to make to harmonise the spirals to demonstrate light.

These progress shots represent about 10days work so far! A long way to go… drawing is A2 size and there are some fabulous wrinkly leaves to tackle after the head is complete.

Last Mother’s Day, my son Charlie gave me a plant pot he’d decorated at Beavers in which he’d sown lots of sunflower seeds 🪣🫘.
He carefully watered them, then we pricked out 8 of the strongest seedlings to plant out. One seed quickly dominated the plot and grew to over 7foot! See pic.
We joked that Charlie needed to shimmy up and find Jack’s giant and the golden goose, it was so huge!
In September we chopped its nodding head off and dried it out indoors, picking out the dead flowers and examining the Fibonacci spirals. He’s carefully saved the seeds for this year.

Of course I had to draw it. So majestic and beautiful, half-decayed, with so many seeds for years to come
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

#drawingwip #plantdrawing #sunflower #fibonacci #surreyartist #sunflowers #graphitedrawing #plantart #plantartist #mumlife #mumofboys

More figs!

#tbt Feb22, I’d just finished this Fruit/Veg piece as part of my final Diploma portfolio.

I told my boys over breakfast this morning that a lot of figs have dead wasps in them, which didn’t exactly support my “eat more fruit” crusade, but was sufficiently interesting for me to feel like I was doing some parenting 🧠

Fig flowers are hidden on the inside, not like other fruit, so how do they disperse their pollen? To pollinate both male and female figs, a teeny tiny female wasp crawls through the little hole at the bottom (ripping her wings off) and lays eggs.

If it’s a male fruit, the larvae burrow out, carrying special pollen, then become wasps themselves, which fly off and pollinate more figs.

If the mama wasp climbs into a female fig, she pollinates it, but cannot lay her eggs. She just dies, alone.

Dead wasps are completely broken down by an enzyme (ficin) and digested by the fruit. Not unlike the Sarlacc who was fed hapless bounty hunters by Jabba the Hut. Fortunately, dead wasp digestion is more rapid than the 1000 years it takes Sarlacc.

Obvs, the botanical nerd lecture fell mostly on deaf ears - quite a lot for a 9 and 7 yo to digest before footy on a Sat AM.

However, this is basically why it’s important to observe the anatomy of a fig fruit to show the little hole at the base and cavity in the middle 🤓 🎨

#figs #figwatercolor #watercolorpainting #fruitart #botanicalart #godalmingcommunity #surreyartist #mumartist #fruitlover #plantfacts #plantlife #figwasp

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