Happy Easter! Happy Spring!! Finally, today the weather seems to have come around to its normal range for this time of year. The last traces of snow (all of the former snowmen in the neighborhood) have finally succumbed to the warm sun. Everywhere you look the daffodils are bobbing their sunny heads and the pear trees are bursting to bloom.
I'm back at the painting table, delving in to a painting I had abandoned last fall: the Swiss chard. Actually, I threw out the first attempt and started anew. I don't normally give up on a painting, but I started off on the wrong tack and couldn't right it. This is why I try to make very detailed drawings and notes at the beginning, so that I can do another painting down the road if I need to, without the plant in front of me.
So here we are. I have transferred the sketch to new paper, and have lightly painted the entire composition in a pale yellow tea wash. I am now doing what I failed to do the first time, which is to work out the form. Swiss chard is a beautiful plant -- the lush, dark green leaf contrasting sharply with the pale yellow ribs and veins. The leaf is tall and puckered and folded and ruffled in a graceful way, yet each leaf stalk is stiff and sturdy, unlike the ephemeral azalea petals and budding tiny leaves we just left behind. I'm also going to investigate the root, which adds a certain interest to the composition. This is common practice in a strict botanical illustration, because it adds to the information the artist can convey about how the plant grows. We'll see if you like the addition of that brown, gnarly thing when we get there. But for today, enjoy the beginnings of the leaves!
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