 |
| Spotted Mandarin (Prosartes maculata) |
 |
| Yellow Mandarin (Prosartes lanuginosa) |
I'm finally getting the opportunity to work on my painting the Spotted Mandarin (
Prosartes maculata). The genus
Prosartes, of which there are two species, the Yellow Mandarin (
Prosartes lanuginosa) and the Spotted Mandarin or Nodding Mandarin, are members of the lily family which are perennial woodland plants native to the Appalachian region. I saw them for the first time a few years ago during a trip to southwestern Virginia with the Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS). The Spotted Mandarin is considered rare in Virginia, but not yet endangered.
 |
| Inked pencil drawing |
Working from my photos, I developed a drawing of two flowering sprigs--one stem with two flowers, and another stem with a single flower. On the stem with the two flowers on the left, you may notice there is a tiny object on the stem just below the clump of leaves. This was a curious thing observed in the field: it mimics a dried leaf so convincingly that one of our team had to point out to me that it was actually an insect, a moth to be precise. I took a close-up shot using my camera's macro setting.
 |
| Unidentified leaf mimic moth |
I've been fascinated by this tiny moth, and have been trying to identify it--after going through a number of insect identification sites my best guess is that it's a type of Sphinx moth, but I've not been able to find the genus or species. Nevertheless, I wanted to include the details of the moth in my painting, in order to add more interest to the composition with a likely pollinator for the flowers.
Once my inked drawing was transferred to the paper, I used masking fluid on the edges and veins--practicing the Pastoriza techniques learned last fall--and after the mask was thoroughly dry, began laying very light washes of color.
 |
| Spotted Mandarin - Step 1 |
With a gradual build up of colors, the shapes of the flowers and leaves begin to emerge. The white flowers are so pale and delicate, it's a challenge to articulate the tepals and other parts. The veining of the leaves is quite distinctive too, with a sort of puckered pattern. The entire plant is covered with fine hairs, most noticeable on the stems.
 |
| Spotted Mandarin - Step 2 |
 |
| Spotted Mandarin - Step 5 |
I still have a number of things to do before the piece is finished. Perhaps before it's complete, I may have the identity of the mystery moth.
