Artist inspiration - Drawing
Some of my own blind contour drawings
Drawing has become an integral part of my artistic process. I try to keep up with my regular drawing practice every day to record my discoveries and improve my focus. I like looking at the drawing styles of other artists to inspire new ideas and to improve my own drawing and learn new techniques. I am, understandably, drawn to the botanical themed drawings of other artists and I can learn a great deal from studying them. Here are a few that I have found particularly inspiring;
Pre-Raphealites
The Pre-Raphealite brotherhood revolutionized British art during the nineteenth century, their work often depicting romanticized versions of religious, literary or medieval scenes. The two fundamental aspects of their artistic aim were the desire to ‘study nature attentively’ in combination with having ‘genuine ideas to express’. As such, many of the Pre-Rapealite artists made drawings of native trees flowers and other plants. John Ruskin and Frederick Sandys both made collections of plant studies.
The Pre-Raphealites also inspired artists of the Arts and Crafts movement which followed. William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones were both friends with members of the Pre-Raphealite brotherhood and were heavily influenced by aspects of their work.
One of the books I own about Pre-Raphealite art
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
“Art is the flower – life is the green leaf. Let every artist strive to make his flower a beautiful living thing – something that will convince the world that there may be – there are – things more precious- more beautiful – more lasting than life.”
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, artist and designer working at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. He drew and painted plants throughout his career, creating both pencil drawings and watercolours. His flower studies appear simple in line and colour and bear his unique style. He observed the shape of the petals and leaves and then stylized them in his drawings. There is something very appealing about the overlapping lines and colours; they could easily get busy and confused but they are kept simple and clear through Mackintosh’s handling of the pencil and paint.
An interesting book about Mackintosh’s flower drawings
Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter made many studies of animals and plants, some of which went on to inspire her famous children’s books. She worked in pen and ink and watercolours to create beautiful illustrations of the nature she encountered throughout her life. It is clear from her drawings that she enjoyed creating them. She had a keen interest in the natural world and loved to make a record of the different animals she encountered using her watercolour paints. My parents would read her books to me as a child and, as such, they hold a very special place in my heart.
A comprehensive book about Beatrix Potter’s art
Ellsworth Kelly
I only recently discovered the plant drawings of American artist Ellsworth Kelly. He was known for his abstract paintings but it is his line drawings of plants that appeal to me. They are very simple, he pared down his subject to its simplest form,
“The drawings from plant life seem to be the bridge to the way of seeing that brought about the paintings in 1949 that are the basis for all my later work. They are exact observations of the form of the leaf or flower or fruit seen. Nothing is changed or added: no shading, no surface marking.”
I am drawn to the simplicity of his line and, having been experimenting with my own single line blind contour drawings, I can feel a similarity to my own way of working. The effect of the negative space and the overlapping lines inspire me to try and capture some of this in my own drawings.
One of Ellsworth Kelly’s plant drawings