Orange Japonica Flowers

A watercolour sketch of orange quince flowers

Hi, how are you?

Last week I had been drawing and painting the white blossoms of the japonica quince; sadly the petals of these flowers are starting to fall to hopefully make way for the fruit.

This week the orange/red japonica is flowering away giving the most beautiful display.

They’ve been drawn with whatever medium I have to hand in moments I have. I like to do this because each pen, pencil or brush has a different look and feel to it.

Below a graphite study of several small stems. Most of the pencil sketches were drawn with an ordinary HB pencil and don’t scan well but this page was drawn with a much softer 2B pencil and is at least visible in the scan.

pencil sketch orange quince — Pencil sketch of orange quince

Later in the week I coloured this in with watercolour, just doodling really; fun to do whilst watching TV.

watercolour & pencil sketch orange quince — Watercolour & pencil sketch orange quince

This was drawn in black ink and a new pen I’m still not in love with, it’s lovely and fine but scratchy and skips a lot. Hopefully it will grow on me.

black ink sketch quince flowers — Black ink sketch of quince flowers

A small cluster of flowers drawn with red ink in an older pen, this ink goes from deep dark red to a very pretty pink when a damp brush is passed over the lines.

red ink sketch quince flowers — Red ink sketch of quince flowers

A watercolour painting on cartridge paper at the top of the page was a lot of fun to paint. I wanted a background but the paper becomes quite patchy and is only really any good for light washes so I sprinkled a little salt in places to give some interesting textures, I think it works.

Spring is here and the gloom of winter is slowly fading away. I’m looking forward to getting outside more now.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Drawing Flowers In The Sunshine

Hi there, how are you?

It’s been a lovely sunny week and the quince tree has decided to flower. It always flowers a few weeks later than the japonica’s.

The tree is full of white flowers flashed with pink, perfect for drawing practice.

This isn’t watercolour paper so its a case of one stroke and were done, any more and the paper pills terribly.

The leaves are just as much fun to paint as the flowers, they are so big and curly, the only problem I have is finding the right mix of green.

I’ve used hookers green, yellow ochre with a touch of lemon yellow here and if it’s a little bright I calm it down with some of the greys on my palette. It’s not a perfect match but not too unpleasant either.

I do like the way these turned out, they’re loose and kind of washy, just need to learn to do it on purpose now hehehe.

I really do love this time of year, everything’s so new, fresh and green.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Inktober 2020 week 3

Hi there, how are you?

Here are my of Inktober drawings for Week 3.

I’m Still keeping up so far, very much liking the colour of the blue ink and having lots of fun experimenting.

Day11 – bird. (above) I had no ideas today so after a quick look through my sketchbook found something that might look good together. It’s nice when the sketchbook becomes useful for not only practising but generating ideas and too.

Day 12 – bat. A little bat fluttering around some bindweed although in some countries the internet says they are called moon flowers(though I’m not sure its the same plant?)

I drew the bat and flowers and thought it looked a bit disjointed so I put the black circle as an after thought. It seems to pull everything together better.

Day 13 – poppy. I love the colour of blue poppies (although you cant tell the colour from this drawing). I really enjoy drawing the curly petals.

Day 14 – blossom. A little bird sitting amongst the spring blossoms. This was drawn on watercolour paper, bockingford I think, and was a very different experience from the printer and cartridge papers I’ve been using.

Day 15 – Chameleon. Two baby chameleons sitting on hibiscus flowers also drawn on watercolour paper. I’m testing this ink on as may papers as I can. The texture of the paper really shows through on this one

Day 16 – butterfly. I’ve seen these flowers many times in the butterfly house at the zoo, I didn’t realise they were another type of hibiscus. (learning and growing hehehe) They look so beautiful and delicate; the butterflies are always fluttering around them.This one is sort of stylised as I’m still trying to work all the frilly petals out.

Day 17 – snail. I’m not a lover of the slimy hoards but they are fun to draw. The tiny mushrooms were drawn from a shaky photo I took at the zoo last year. This one turned out much better than I thought it would.

We are over half way through now, some were a little rushed but it was a fun week of drawing.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Quince Flowers In Gouache And Ink

I’m still in the garden, the quince tree has been flowering away to itself for almost a week now and I fear I have neglected it this year, realising this I thought I should draw the flowers before they all drop off!

They have lovely white flowers just tinged hear and there with pink, the leaves are huge and floppy making a good backdrop for the flowers helping them to really stand out.

I did a quick pencil sketch for a guide then drew it all in with a fine liner. The intention was to use watercolour but the paper was refusing to co-operate so I used gouache. It’s not a highly pigmented set but the extra body helped with the paint beading on the surface.

two gouache quince flowers — Two gouache quince flowers

Gouache is not my favourite medium, I usually spent more time fixing the mistakes than painting but this time it was a more pleasurable experience as being outside meant the paint dried faster and so I wasn’t pushing the colours together in a muddy mess.

(Note to self: use less water when painting with gouache.)

Some drawings worked better than others as I tried to work out how best to deal with the shadows and which greens to use.

Between the blue paper and the white paint the scanner had a hard time here and the white flowers don’t really show up well.

After trying single flowers I looked for a little group that although weren’t actually on the same branch, from my point of view seemed to be in a small cluster, I think It gives a little more movement around the page.

a group of gouache quince — A group of quince flowers painted with gouache.

The day was a bit colder and didn’t really want to drag paints and brushes outside so I settled for a fountain pen and my sketchbook. The leaves, twist and undulate, it was difficult to work out the shadows and then make the leaves darker than the flowers. I think this will take a lot more practice.

quince flowers drawn with a fountain pen — Quince flowers drawn with a fountain pen

Stepping away for a while and looking at it now its not too bad, maybe if there are and flowers left after the nights wind I will have another go and work the shadows out properly.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Sketching Three different Quince Fruit

Hi there, how are you?
In our garden we have three different types of quince.

We have a small tree growing the real quince, they’re pear shaped with a fuzzy skin, we also have two types of japonica quince. They’re all edible sour and very hard, all need to be cooked and sweetened before they can be eaten.

I love to draw the flowers in spring then forget to draw the fruit in the autumn. This year I have rectified that and tried to draw the fruits of our entire quince family.

The quince tree has lots of white/pale pink flowers in spring; one or two fruits start to form then usually most fall off.
It maybe me or the weather who knows but it normally produces one single fruit. Last year we had a bumper crop of two whole fruits, this year we’re back to one.

I’ll cook it slowly in the oven and we’ll eat it with ice cream, one fruit will easily feed four for a dessert yum.

The small japonica bush as loads of orange flowers and looks so beautiful in spring. It gives barely any fruit and when it does they are small, possibly the size of a ping pong ball. This year it has four fruits on one of the branches. Best crop we’ve had for many years, something that needed recording in my sketch book for sure.

Four small japonica fruit. A bumper crop this year.

The third quince is a cross between a tree and a bush. It grows tall and is mainly branches and stalks. It has lovely white flowers that blush red and pink in spring, almost like a blossom.
The fruit is about the size of an apple.

The last few years they have given us lots of fruit. The fruit grows close to or even on to the branches and don’t have much in the way of stalks.

I leave them on the bush well into autumn till the first one drops off then try to prize them from the branches. Again they are very sour, more so than the pear shaped one and need lots of sugar. I use the japonica quince to make my favourite quince, rosehip and apple jam. I like to grate anything left over and freeze the pulp; it can be used with other fruit through out the year and tastes really good in muffins.

large japonica fruit — Large japonica fruit

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Till next time, have fun x

Drawing More Japonica Quince Flowers

orange quince garden sketch — Orange quince garden sketch

Hi there, how are you?

A few weeks ago I drew some japonica quince flowers in the garden; they’re pink and white a little like apple blossom. This week the other japonica in the garden started to flower. These flowers are quite different to the others, they’re orange and where the pink flowers flare out, these are more cup-shaped.
They are beautiful in the spring especially as the sun hits them and really brighten up the garden.

We’ve had a lovely sunny week so sitting in the garden drawing the quinces is a very relaxing thing to do.

At the zoo the quinces are also out, theirs differ again with their flowers being bright red. I noticed a small piece had broken off so picked it up and carried it home.
As I drew it I turned it around in my hand to show different positions. I do love the bright yellow stamens against the deep red flowers.

red quince sketch from at the zoo — Red zoo quince sketch.

The first quince is still flowering although the flowers are starting to fall now so I stood outside for a while with my sketch book and a fountain pen filled with red ink and drew a few branches. Then took a water brush and pulled out some of the ink to shade it slightly.

quince sketch in red fountain pen ink — Quince sketch in red fountain pen ink

This small watercolour sketch was painted in my sketch book, cartridge paper is not really meant for lots of watery washes but it was enough to give the idea of what the flowers look like, if I think ahead next time maybe I’ll take a piece of watercolour paper out with me.

pink Japonica quince watercolour sketch — Pink Japonica quince watercolour sketch

I really have the most delightful time drawing in the garden this week, and since the clocks went forward this week I’ll be able to stay out there even longer. Good times!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today. Till next time, have fun x

Drawing Quince Blossoms In The Garden

Hi there, how are you?

Spring is springing and I’ve been watching the Japonica’s outside in the garden, waiting for them to flower. The flowers on this plant are similar to apple blossom, white with a pink bush on the outside of the petals. I have another plant on the other side of the garden that is much smaller in size with orange flowers but they’re not ready yet.

They’re called Japonica (oriental ) quince not to be confused with the other pear shaped fuzzy quince. I have one of those too but it’s too early for it to be in flower yet.

Out I went, sketch book in hand to draw the lovely flowers. Here the flowers are just budding; it was a very quick sketch in watercolour (no pencil )to get the idea of the shapes.

quince buds watercolour sketch — Quince buds watercolour sketch

Over the week as the flowers have started to open and I nip outside to draw one or two sprigs; it’s been quite cold so I draw what I can in as short a time as possible before my fingers get too cold.

quince flowers watercolour sketch — I tried a bit of ultramarine for the shadows in these quince flowers and I quite like the effect.

I tend to draw bits of the plant rather than the whole thing, it’s all trunk/stalk with small branches that hold the flowers and buds close to the trunk.
This was drawn with a fountain pen and gives the best idea of the structure, imagine it at about six or so feet tall (it really wants to be taller but then I wouldn’t be able to pick the fruit in the autumn).

quince outlined in fountain pen — Japonica quince flowers drawn with a fountain pen. Did I mention the sharp spiky thorns, ooof!

After scanning the line work in I thought it looked a little sad so I coloured it in, because I had used water-soluble ink to draw it so decided to use watercolour pencils for the flowers and leaves so it didn’t turn into a huge brown inky mess. Ahh that’s better.

quince outlined in fountain pen and watercolour — Quince flowers outlined in fountain pen with watercolour and watercolour pencils.

If I get time I might draw a few more over the week as it’s in full bloom now and it would be a shame to miss such a lovely drawing opportunity.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today. Till next time, have fun x

Drawing Garden Flowers In The Glorious Sunshine

Orange Quince flowers sketch — Orange Japonica Quince flowers sketch

Hello folks, how are you?

Over the last week or so we’ve had beautiful glorious sunshine. The kind of weather that makes you want to sit and just enjoy the garden. I’ve taken my sketchbook out with me and spent the time drawing some of the flowers as they started to bloom.

quince flower sketch — A sketch of flowers from my quince tree.

The orange Japonica quince and the furry quince have been amazing and are just coming to an end but I managed to draw a few sketches before the flowers fell, never know I might even get some fruit off them this year.

These orange Japonica quince flowers are very different from the Japonica quince flowers I drew a few weeks ago and the fruit , if I ever get any is a lot smaller.

Bluebells sketch — The bluebells have been lovely this year and are also past their best now.

aquilegia in watercolour & ink — Aquilegia flower buds drawn with a brush pen and coloured with watercolour.

Aquilegias are sprouting up everywhere, the seeds have spread around the garden very well and I can see loads of new plants sprouting up ready for next year. I think I’m going to have to thin them a little ready for next year.

aquilegia in water based ink — Aquilegia flowers drawn in water based ink (Quink) the ink was then pulled out with a water brush.

I bought a yellow poppy from the supermarket this year, drew it for a few days then put it out into the garden, of course the slugs thought it was their birthday and ate all the flowers! I don’t like slugs but won’t use pellets in case they kill the birds that eat them.

I’ve been reading up to find out how to deter them. Copper doesn’t work well, salt affects the soil, so this year I’m using rolled oats and hair. Yes hair, apparently slugs don’t like it so as I emptied the hoover and saw all the hairs I thought I’ll give it a try.

So far it’s working, slugs are hiding under the pots but they have stopped eating the plant and more importantly the buds. Maybe I’ll have a few more flowers soon, fingers crossed.

yellow poppy sketch 1 — Supermarket yellow poppy sketch

yellow poppy sketch 2 — Supermarket yellow poppy sketch

It looks like I’ve been really prolific this week but I’ve just spent half an hour here or there where I can. It’s a little but of peace and quiet and it helps me to relax. Hopefully the weather will continue and there will be more days in the sun.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today. Till next time, have fun x