flower power

the 5-week botanical illustration class i was taking is over. here are a few paintings from it. now that the class is over, i may not continue to paint flowers quite so persnickety-ly. it is relaxing and satisfying to try to paint "scientifically" (and i actually wanted to learn more about flower parts, identification and pollination), but i usually prefer to look at paintings that are more loose/interpretive/expressive. though i noticed in class that even though people were trying to paint/draw the flowers realistically, everyone still had distinct ways of painting/drawing. reality is shifty. and everyone's hands move differently.

our class went to the botanical garden in golden gate park one day. the garden's sf public library branch had beautiful botanical illustrations by kristin jakob on display. her work is precise and delicate and much more beautiful in person. i was struck by her compositions which i imagine she must carefully determine because there is both tension and balance in them and to such a pleasing result. (my favorite from the exhibit—fern fronds in various stages of life/decay—is not on her site.)

i saw where the wild things are finally last night and liked it so much more than i expected i would. really liked it. it was both more and less sad then i thought it would be.