Monday, May 23, 2011

Strange Beauty

Last month as spring began to unfold, I blogged about the strangely interesting flower, the Hellebore.

It has become one of my favorite flowers because of its unique details and untypical colors. I took several pictures of the ones blooming around my house and knew, one day, I would paint from them.

In this watercolor painting, I have captured the three stages of the flower and exaggerated their shapes with black ink. As the flower opens, inside you see the tubular nectaries whose shapes I find fascinating. I also like the way the stamens open and seem to dance. Finally, the center elongates into pod-like forms. The flower lasts this way for months!

Hellebore Trio
Joanne Osband
watercolor and ink
15.5" X 22"
at

4 comments:

  1. Alexandra MacVeanMay 23, 2011 at 6:45 PM

    I'm not familiar with the Hellebore, but boy are they sure lovely. And you really amaze me at how well you capture the details of each flower that you paint. Love your signature style, Joanne. :)

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  2. Joanne OsbandMay 23, 2011 at 9:20 PM

    Hi Sophia,

    Thank you!

    I have recently been using ink with my watercolors; we shall see where this takes me....

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  3. ChristineMay 24, 2011 at 11:33 AM

    the hellebore at 3 stages of life, I love your idea and beautiful drawing.

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  4. Joanne OsbandMay 24, 2011 at 11:35 AM

    Hi Christine,

    Thanks for the compliments!

    It is an amazing flower.

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