D is for draw, P is for paint

I started work on my new painting series about the endangered/threatened Illinois plant species this last month and found the best resource ever called VPlant. It is a virtual herbarium that the Chicago Botanical Gardens helps to run/host or something like that. They have plant species that have been collect as far back as the 1840's. It's amazing to me to see all of these plants, which are now endangered and/or threatened, have been collected for more than one hundred years. It is kind of depressing to see the lack of collections in recent years because they are becoming more rare and when they are spotted they are just recorded and no longer collected.

Here are a few of the species that will be included in the series... there will be more though, I have yet to work my way through the listings of rare species in the Illinois region.


In traditional botanical illustration, lithoprints were first done, then color was added after each print was dry. At least this is the way that some were done. I wanted to reflect on this method in my work. I am going to start with pen and ink drawings, then print them, and then I will touch them up with color. I'm thinking either acrylic ink, watercolors, or oil paints. I am going to layer the printing process, drawing, and inking/painting with gesso to blur it. I'll post some pictures of the whole process once I get some finished. I've started the preliminary pen and ink drawings this weekend and hope to get some prints done on Monday or Tuesday night.

On another note I put another dishcloth for sale in my etsy shop today. Unfortunately I forgot my needle and thread this weekend and will not be able to finish the knitting needle holder until Monday.

Anyway, that's it for tonight, I'm needing to pack up and head back to my home town.

Editted in: I added a new section to my etsy shop "Fine art" and put a drawing up for sale. I will be adding more small drawings and paintings in the near future. Also you can get any drawing or small painting matted for a small fee of $4. Have a good night!