Botanical Birthday Card - Paint Along With My Picture!

Howdy Sketchers,

We all love botanic prints and paintings, right? I sure do. My favourite are the vintage ones that were done when scientific illustration was real scientific illustration. Have I ever told you how I kept the poor technicians behind in my zoology and botany practicals at university, because I was still drawing skulls and plants? No? (To any of the technicians reading this (Cormac, John, the others whose names I may have forgotten - I am sorry!)

But while I love botanical art, I don't love the rigour and discipline required to make a beautiful, scientifically-accurate painting of a plant. I have always felt like a charlatan when it comes to botanical art as a result.

One day about a year ago a student of mine - shout-out to you Ruth! - told me she liked my approach to painting plants: accurate without being too fussy. That was a revelation to me, and I thought that maybe there was more than one way to make art (ya think?!) No need for magnifying lamps the way I do it. And I haven't a hope of making a really accurate illustration with my blurry old eyes.

So I hope you enjoy this video of the making of a birthday card for my very dear friend. The initial sketch was made on location in the Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, in Co. Dublin. I was there last week with my dear mother, on her birthday, where we sketched orchids and got in the way of the young fellow watering the plants. Would you like me to reproduce that sketch in the same way as I did this one? If you say you would, then I will be happy because I will know you have read this far....

And do me a favour: if you bought a SketchPocket and have found it useful, please spread the word. I am divided geographically between Dublin and Galway and these days I am spread a little thin, so I could do with your help. (Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows the reason why: it's a sensitive topic, but one that is relevant to so many of us in our fifties and sixties.) I have a fresh consignment of SketchPockets arriving in mid-March and those babies won't sell themselves - they're still a brand-new invention - so I need your help to get the word out!

Thanks in advance and...

Happy Sketching!

Love

Róisín and Reuben