Brazilian Salvia 'Black and Blue' Painting

Brazilian Salvia 'Black and Blue' (Salvia guaranensis 'Black and Blue').

Last summer I grew this tropical Salvia 'Black and Blue' as a potted plant on my front walk, and found that the humming birds loved it! Every morning during the heat of August and early September, the Ruby-throat humming birds would come to feast on the nectar of the lovely intense blue flowers. And the flower buds are, true to the plant's name, nearly black.

I started working on some drawings of the plant back then, but also took lots of photos of it in my studio as well as outdoors, knowing that I might not be able to complete the painting before the plant died back in the fall.

Graphite drawing - Stage 1

Graphite drawing - Stage 2

I started with a graphite sketch, as usual--one flowering spike at a time, then adding another, trying to keep the overall design of the painting in mind as I went along. I then traced over it to re-work the arrangement of the flower spikes to give a sense of the fullness of the plant in bloom.

Graphite drawing - Stage 3

After studying my drawing, I felt that the composition was too heavily weighted towards the left side; to achieve a better balance, I added one more spike facing right and more leaves.

Graphite drawing - Stage 4

I shaded my drawing to study the contours and shadows, but my composition still lacked a focal point. Eventually it occurred to me, why not add a humming bird? I don't usually include pollinators in my botanical paintings, unless this is the stated theme, but I wanted to try my hand at painting a bird.

I've never caught a humming bird in any of my photos despite the frequency of their visits--they move so fast and are notoriously elusive. But there were plenty of hummer photos available on-line and in my gardening catalogs to be able to find some suitable images for my painting.

Watercolor - Stage 1

After tracing my drawing onto watercolor paper (Fabriano Artistico hot-pressed 140 LB) I laid down the light washes of color you see on the right side of the painting. My palette of colors was fairly limited: Vanadium Yellow, Indranthrene Blue, Cerulean Blue Hue, Brilliant Blue Violet, and a touch of Quinacridone Coral. Then I started building up the color on the flowers and buds, and to show the intricate veins and contours of the leaves.

Watercolor - Stage 2

At this stage I began to paint the humming bird, using two reference photos. I completed all the work on the flowers and leaves before getting back to finishing the humming bird.

Watercolor - Stage 3

After I had darkened the feathers on the humming bird I remembered that I still had some of Daniel Smith's wonderful Interference Watercolors--green and red were the colors needed. A tiny bit of each dry-brushed on the feathers gave it just the right amount of iridescence to look convincing! Unfortunately, the iridescent effect can't been seen except when looking at the painting from different angles--it doesn't show up in the final photo.

Brazilian Salvia 'Black and Blue' - Final watercolor painting

The finished painting is shown above.

Dog Days of Summer

Brazilian blue salvia.

We're entering the dog days, so-called after the "dog star" Sirius, which becomes visible in the night sky at this time of the year. The summer has been quite dry; other than the occasional gully-washer, there's been very little rain. There's not much in bloom in my yard at this time--the annuals in pots are doing better than those I planted in beds, despite regular watering.

Above is a blue salvia I bought earlier this summer, a tropical variety known as Brazilian blue sage 'Black and Blue' (Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'). I bought it because the flowers are supposed to attract hummingbirds, sightings of which are increasing as my garden develops. The deep blue flowers and the velvety dark buds of the salvia are unusual, but I've yet to see a single hummingbird in its vicinity. The plant is worthy of painting, though, and I've already started working on some sketches.

Black and Blue Salvia sketch

The front porch

Many of my house plants summer outdoors on the front porch and back deck, but my collection has expanded so much that I'm having a hard time finding places for them. I tucked in the beautiful red Mandevilla I bought last year amid the greenery below front of the porch to great effect.

Red Mandevilla

The back deck is more populated this year. The Australian red lime (on the right, behind the asparagus fern) has grown a lot, I can't wait until it starts fruiting! My begonia collection is also blooming well this year. I pruned my home-grown avocado tree (back left) to re-shape it--still hoping that it might actually fruit at some point--who knows? Here's the current ensemble.

Back deck

Coleus, red impatiens and purple sweet potato

Herb's bed of sunflowers got attacked by the deer while I was away in June--I returned to find the tops of the plants chewed off and Herb ready to give up on his plot. I thought the plants might still bloom from side shoots so we fenced around them and yes, we have some flowers--smaller that what they would have been if not eaten back, but still a bright addition to the yard.

The chiggers and biting insects have been savage this year, to the point that I'm afraid to go out there unless covered in bug repellent from head to toe. Herb has been attacked by a mysterious gnat or midge while mowing, and the bites are really painful. It's really difficult to enjoy the yard under these circumstances, so we confine ourselves to the safety of our deck most of the time.

Herb's sunflower bed

This spring I planted four artichokes in the new bed on the west side and these have been growing much better than last year's plants in the raised bed. I don't know that I'll ever get any edible chokes, but the consolidated bed looks much better now. The Caryopteris' (blue mist shrub) airy blue flowers should start opening soon.

West bed with Caryopteris and artichokes

My Venus flytrap plant is also doing great outside on the deck, watered with distilled water--it seems to be catching its own meals too, judging by the one half-closed trap on the left.

Venus flytrap

I wonder when the bugs will start to die down and I can once again enjoy wandering through the yard...