On the move...

I've set up a website and will be blogging over there from now on. Please pop over and take a look!

www.ruthharker.art

Crab apple - Malus sylvestris

The apples in my garden are looking rosy and should be ready to eat in a few weeks, but this piece is an illustration of the native wild apple, or crab apple - Malus sylvestris.

I've shown as many aspects of its lifecycle as possible to give you a full impression of its character throughout the seasons. I hope you like it!

This involved many sketches, specimens, photos and dissections to try and capture all the different parts of the plant that I wanted to include in the final piece.

 

The main difference between the cultivated apple and this wild relative are that the crab apple fruits are smaller and more bitter.

Autumn hedgerow composition

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna); Ivy (Hedera helix); Rosehip (Rosa canina)

All from the little track alongside my house. Although this is an 'autumn composition' they are all still going strong now, at the end of January. The hawthorne has never been out of leaf - the new leaves were sprouting before the old ones had dropped. What a crazy mild winter it's been!

Helicopters

A 'library page' of sycamore seeds which have whirled their merry way to the path outside my house.

 Happy autumn!

Sequoia cone

We are coming to the end of the first painting module of the diploma course and this was an exercise in textural repetition.

I picked up this cone in the park on my way home and I'm pretty sure its a Sequoia. Let me know if you disagree...

I've put up an image of the whole sheet so you can see my notes on colours etc. in case you are interested in that sort of thing.

Cones always seem a bit daunting to me with all their fibonacci spirals but I'm enjoying these far more than trying to get veins on leaves looking right at the moment.

Camelia leaves

 

 

I've been practising mixing different greens, so some nice green leaves are the obvious thing to paint. The Camelia bush has lots of pink buds, ready to burst open when the weather warms up a bit.

 

 

Pine cone

This pine cone has been lying around the house gathering dust for ages, so I thought it was time I drew it. I don't know what species of tree it came from.

Pine cones, like pineapples, sunflowers, corn on the cob, and countless other natural objects, show fibonacci spirals in their structure. Its tricky to get it right, and I had to resort to putting little coloured stickers on the scales so I could follow the spirals round without getting confused.