Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Ficus carica - Say What?

A while back I read a neat post on Jacqueline Newbold's blog Art in My Heart, Jacqueline Newbold titled Watercolor Vignettes from Ponet; a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal.  You can find it on the sidebar (I couldn't copy the post address itself).  Anyhow, she showed how to precolor the background.  I did it but I made one big block of color and then didn't quite know what to do with it.  Until the other day that is, when I wanted to draw my poor, new fig tree. 

I got the fig tree for my birthday back in November from my son.  It is a plant that will only grow about 3 feet and can live and produce fruit indoors.  That's important because the animals will kill the tree outdoors and/or steal all the fruit.  I got it potted and placed it in a sunny window - right at cat level!  I had no idea my cat would chew on all the leaves.  I didn't think the tree would survive but it finally sent out some new leaves and I wanted to draw it to commemorate the occasion (by the way, the plant is in another window now on a tall stool the cat can't share).  I remembered this page and thought I'd give the sketching and overpainting a try.  I am real happy with how it turned out.  The paper is not my favorite but I have it in one of my sketchbooks so need to use it up.  It soaks up moisture like a sponge and doesn't warp but it doesn't always allow for detail to show either so some penwork helped out a lot here. 

If the idea of an indoor fruiting fig sounds good to you the link to buying one of your own is here.  It was under $20 when I got it, not a bad deal.

11 comments:

  1. I love this. I just started playing arond with water colour and this is inspiring.

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  2. I am so impressed with what you did here! I want to learn that precoloring trick too! It's absolutely gorgeous!

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  3. Love the background in this and it push this to a spectacular level.

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  4. This is a gorgeous watercolor. I LOVE the background and the main image really stands out! Very Nice.

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  5. Thank you everyone. It's fun trying new techniques. For those of you who haven't tried this one, I dare you!

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  6. ...very cool. I love that rainbow background. I had to chuckle when you described what your cat did to the leaves. I can sooooo see our Bip hanging by the fig tree chewing up the leaves. You'll have to post when you get a fig!! (I love the leaves in the paintings....beautiful.)

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  7. Poor fig tree! I'm glad it survived the cat attack. Fig trees smell so wonderful in summer!
    Your drawing is wonderful. the background, the great lines, it's delightful!

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