Flame Azalea

Time to begin a new painting!  Today I am starting to work on a flame azalea, a shrub which grows out by the road in front of my house.  I've sketched the blossoms before (see posts April 25 - May 10, 2011).  And now my friend, Daniel, has commissioned me to paint them! 

First, an introduction:

Isn't this beautiful?  Even with my finicky camera it looks great.  You should see some of Daniel's shots.  He's a terrific photographer and his photos are even more gorgeous.  Actually, I am not entirely sure why he wants a painting when he's got such lovely photos.  But a painting can reveal more of the soul of the thing, can't it?  And he has a sentimental fondness for flame azaleas, going back to his childhood home in South Carolina where his dad cultivated them.  So the challenge is set!

The flame azalea, also known as Rhododendron calendulaceum, is one of only15 native species which grow in the Eastern U.S.  (By comparison, plant enthusiasts have selectively bred azaleas for hundreds of years, yielding more than 10,000 hybrids!) It is one of the most spectacular native shrubs of the Appalachian Mountains and can be found from southern New York and Ohio south through the Appalachan Mountains to northern Georgia.  It has a wide range of color from clear yellow to oranges to brilliant red.  My shrubs are mostly yellow-orange to solid orange.  R. calendulaceum was first collected in 1795 from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina by Andre Michaux, the French botanist and explorer, but it has been around much longer.  This native species has been growing relatively undisturbed in the Appalachians for millions of years!

As for the plant's habit, this is what I've learned:  Like all native azaleas, it is a well-branched deciduous shrub.  This means it drops its leaves in the winter.  It is upright with spreading branches, about 5 to 10 feet high.  (My shrubs, which get absolutely no attention from me, are going on 50 years old and are about 6 - 8 feet tall.)  It is a naturally occuring tetraploid, having twice the number of chromasomes in comparision to other native species.  Because of this fact, it does not hybridize easily with most of the other natives.

The terminal inflorescense (the bunch of blossoms at the end of the stem) can contain  5 - 8 flowers, with the individual corolla (one blossom) varying from 2.5 - 4 cm. long to 3 - 5 cm. accross.  The corolla is openly funnel shaped, and the tube is the same length as the width of the petals, or slightly shorter.  The flowers have a prominant blotch (this is a horticultural term meaning a darker blotch of color at the center of the bloom) but are not fragrant.  The undersides of the leaves are pubescent (fuzzy), but not waxy white. The flowers open along with the leaves, or shortly thereafter.   

I could go on to describe more excruciating details about the morphology of this plant, but I will spare you.  It is stuff I need to know as I set out to draw it, but it really is pretty dry stuff!  Let's just agree that it is a wonderful subject to paint and worthy of its distinction in 2000 as Virginia's "Wildflower of the Year".    Onward!

(p.s. for your amusement, I have also posted some more musings "around the house" and "on other stuff".  Check out the links to the right.)

Post #101!

I just discovered that I have published 100 posts on this blog!  Sounds like a milestone, doesn't it?  For a project that I wasn't at all sure I'd stick with, I'd say it has been a success.  Thanks to all of you who have followed me thus far!  No telling where this thing is going . . . I'm open to suggestions!

So it seems appropriate to post a dog theme on day 101.  It isn't dalmations, but it is cute, nonetheless.  This is the finished portrait of Ginger, biscuits and all.  Enjoy!

Dog biscuits galore!

If you were a dog, wouldn't you love to have your portrait surrounded by a pile of crunchy treats?  Ginger is the sort of dog who is completely and totally motivated by food, even at her advanced age.  She's always been easy to train, as long as there's a biscuit waiting at the end of the task to be performed.  Every time we look at this drawing, we're going to say to ourselves, "Good girl, Ginger!"

Dog Doodle

Hello people!  I'm back!!  Both sons are officially graduated from their respective institutions and our daughter is safely ensconced in her study abroad program in Morocco.  Whew!  So I'm starting out with something easy.  Sort of a warm up, if you will.

I know.  You are thinking, wow, she's hit the bottom of the botanical barrel.  Drawing dog biscuits.  OK, so it isn't in any remote sense a botanical drawing.  Even if it is organic dog biscuits!  So why draw them?  Well, I'm finishing up my little project for Katie which was a drawing of Ginger, our dog (see May 7 post).  I thought it would be fun to draw some dog biscuits on the matting before I have it framed! 

Actually, it is a great drawing exercise for several reasons.  First, it is easy because it is practically impossible to mess up the color.  Dog biscuits are brown, after all.  The ever present worry of turning something muddy from incorrect color mixing just doesn't apply.  Also, the shape is very forgiving.  Dog biscuits are hard, crumbly, rounded, toothsome, crunchy things and so a precise, steady hand is not required in order to draw one successfully.  In fact, if you are a novice at drawing, I highly recommend trying to draw one!  Finally, whenever I get to draw something easy, I like to let the pencil do its thing and not think too much about it.  I can get in to a sort of zen state of non-thinking, which is really very refreshing.  I become the observer, watching with curiosity as the biscuit takes shape on the mat board.

In choosing my projects, most of the time I like to undertake a great challenge and then muster the perseverance and fortitude to see it through.  But at times like this, when my mental and emotional energy is flagging a bit, I find it satisfying just to color within the lines. Enjoy!