Sunday, September 8, 2013

Orchid Pencil Sketches and Nature

Purple Fringed Orchid Flower details
Showy Orchis Flower detail

I've been working on refining the details of the orchid flowers for my botanical project, and trying to come up with the color palettes for these. I seem to have approach-avoidance towards the final project at this point.

In the meantime, the roses I had ordered for fall planting arrived, and the past two evenings have been spent digging up a new bed for them. It's such a rocky spot I've hauled away five or six buckets of rocks so far, and still have another 4 feet or so in length to dig. The weather is so lovely at this time of the year that even this back-breaking work is still enjoyable. Just being outside working on my garden is a pleasure. Looking forward to next spring's display keeps me at it.

Admiring the results of last year's plantings, some beautiful combinations like the one below seem noteworthy. The contrast of the magenta flowers of this aster against the yellow-green of the Sedum rupestre 'Angelina' and even yellower dwarf Hinoki cypress is a wonderful study in complementary colors and textures. If I could only be as perfect as nature when I paint!


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