The Botanical Blogger with Linda C Miller

 March 2022 I have been painting botanicals since 2008 and my studio set up has certainly changed over the years.  Here is a picture of where the studio is today. Earlier this year I moved my studio to our bonus room, a large room with lots of natural light, on the second floor where I can look out at the trees! I now have two tables in the studio and the one on the left is motorized so I can raise it up when I stand or lower it when I sit.  It is a dream, purchased on Amazon - Flexispot EC1B-V3/ED1W-V#/EC1S-V3.  I am so proud of myself - I put it all together and followed the instructions perfectly.  And hubby was a huge help with getting it up the stairs. June 2022 And here is the current set up where I added one more swing arm light over my palette, a lighted magnifier, and a boom for my HD video recorder. Yes I have a TV on my working table. It has my USB drive loaded with years of photo reference and enlarges the image up to 4X as shown above.  I often work from photos as specimen

  I love to walk about the yard and pick up sticks and bring them into the studio!   Shown here is my .03 lead mechanical pencil.  I once used a .05 lead but found the lead to be too thick.  The ".03" is just right!  I also found that drawing on cold press watercolor, while it has texture, is perfect for laying down graphite.  Much easier than hot press and many drawing papers for a professional artist grade project. Here I am working on Fluid 100 cold press paper on a block.  The blocks are easy to store and ready when you are to start a project.   Thank you for visiting, Linda Linda C Miller  Artist | Naturalist | Instructor http://www.lindacmillerbotanicalart.com https://thebotancialblogger.blogspot.com/ Copyright Linda C. Miller 2022 To receive my new posts visit  The Botanical Blogger  -   SCROLL UP  to the top and  SIGN UP !   

  I went to our local library, and I admit it has been a while!  Upstairs I went to look through my favorite subjects.  Along with several "picture" books, I picked up "Brilliant Green The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence."   This book is brilliantly written and it will change the way you think and I believe feel for plants.    Each chapter delves into an intelligence from our perspective as humans and theirs.   A must for plant lover's libraries! Thank you for visiting, Linda Linda C Miller  Artist | Naturalist | Instructor http://www.lindacmillerbotanicalart.com https://thebotancialblogger.blogspot.com/ Copyright Linda C. Miller 2022 To receive my new posts visit  The Botanical Blogger  -   SCROLL UP  to the top and  SIGN UP !   

White Oak  I love working with fall leaves that have spent a few days between the pages! This post shows the steps that I took to create a pattern using a divider.  This is the perfect project for beginners.  If you do not have one, you may want to add it to your holiday wish list!   Feel free to copy and paste this image to get started.   Drawing Materials Tools:  M echanical pencil, divider, kneaded eraser, and a fine tip black marker. Paper:  One piece of tracing paper and one piece of watercolor paper. I always draw on tracing paper.  It is easy to erase and saves a step.  If I drew on sketch paper, I would need to draw it again on tracing paper to create my pattern. Even though the leaf is pressed, I found that it was raised up a bit.  So I took a piece of cardboard and placed the edge on the mid-vein and traced the outline with my mechanical pencil.  Note that I made small marks where the veins ended, as you will see in the next photo.  T

Laurel Oak   20 x 28 inches Copyright Linda C. Miller 2020 I thought that I would share this technique today as I am almost finished with this large painting of the Laurel Oak.  It has been in and out of the studio over the last two years and I decided to add a few more leaves on the horizontal stem and add more shading to the leaves and acorns.  Let me first start by saying - I did not see at this level when I began painting.  I am now at this point after eight years of painting in watercolor. I am a big believer in having a "friend" near by to guide you, especially when finishing your work.  As you can see here, I have a page opened from my "Rory McEwen The Colours of Reality" book.  To begin my critique,  I set a mat down on my work to crop the areas.  I then allow my eye to move from the painting to the book, using the right side of my brain. Allow your eyes to do the work.  If you still hear your internal critic, turn the work upside down. 

I can remember the first time I mixed a true black - I was just thrilled.  I used Cobalt Blue, Permanent Rose and Lemon Yellow.   Since then I found two new mixtures that get to black much more quickly.   Here are my recipes! Thank you for visiting, Linda Linda C Miller  Artist | Naturalist | Instructor http://www.lindacmillerbotanicalart.com https://thebotancialblogger.blogspot.com/ Copyright Linda C. Miller 2022 To receive my new posts visit  The Botanical Blogger  -   SCROLL UP  to the top and  SIGN UP !   

A tea wash is a very light layer of paint.   When using the tea wash to establish your highlights or a halo, the mixture is 80-90 percent water to pigment.  It also is made with transparent, staining pigments.  The leaves in this example were painted with Prussian Blue.  The first step is to prime your element first by applying one coat of clear water for 140 weight papers and two coats of clear water for 300 lb paper. Priming ensures that your wash will have an even, smooth appearance and it allows you to create a gradation from top to bottom.   Yet what is most important is that you allow the "sheen" on the paper to disappear before you lay on your tea wash or for that matter any layer of color.  If not, you will be working wet in wet and you may not be able to control the way the pigment rests/dries on the paper. Thank you for visiting, Linda Linda C Miller  Artist | Naturalist | Instructor http://www.lindacmillerbotanicalart.com https://thebotancialblogger.blog