Josie White SBA fellow

18/01/2022

As long as my Covid test is clear ,I’m back at Winsley this week. The Lemon is now getting very lemon in colour so I’m going to pick it tomorrow and prepare some reference photos .This is the perfect work to take with me to Winsley ,the varying light , quite different from my studio doesn’t affect the sketching .
This is as far as I have got with BUNNY , the stitching is tricky so I have decided to lay down a layer of the mottled colours first. This layer of colour was laid at night under artificial day lights and I was surprised how much
pink I lost. I was able to correct it the next day but as a warning to students , please avoid working in night light ,
It’s horribly frustrating when you are trying to match colour . Never work on a botanical piece at night is my Mantra
In that case colour is so important. You need natural daylight to see it correctly.

11/01/2022

The Lemon still isn’t Yellow so we have BUNNY.
This little person ( I presume it’s a girl ) is the much loved companion of my youngest granddaughter,Lillie Belle.I promised her a while ago now that I would paint her best friend but haven’t managed it yet. It’s a knitted rabbit that I assumed wouldn’t take very long .WRONG…..
This is 2 days work,one for the sketch and one for the ghosting ,let’s see how long it takes me to get all the necessary stitching painted. The colouring alone should be interesting . With a little bit of luck it should be done by Easter 🤪🤣😳

07/01/2022

I’m still waiting for the lemon to turn yellow before I remove it from the tree . Only then can I complete the sketches. I had a very successful class last week with some students that have been attending for a long time now ,in fact they were the students that the first book was aimed at .I’m in the process of writing vol 2 . This will be far more advanced than the first publication and includes the subject of composition. With the lemon sketches ongoing I thought a few pictures of the separate sketches that came together to make the new Apple composition ( the painting on Vellum tissue) could interest you.
Four separate sketches, Apples,Blossom and cut fruit. I did sketch the bee separately .The smaller detail, the pips ,were drawn directly onto the final picture.This step by step process helped me compile a balanced overall composition eliminating the risk of damaging the vellum with too much correction .It also allowed collection of information throughout the growing season.

Just before I finish A Big THANK YOU to SOPHIE for the Chocolates and the beautifully written card.

02/01/2022

I just can’t believe how my sketching has changed since last April . So much so that I decided to re sketch the image of the lemon blossom. The sketch I did in April was a little too big and needed more information. Using the archived photos of the blossom I re drew it and elaborated the foliage . This is much better in my opinion, It will add more information of this flowering stage to the overall composition.
Getting there 😀🤔for this stage at least.

02/01/2022

This is the Lemon today . It has started to turn yellow and I’m pretty sure it can’t get much bigger . I intend to sketch the fruit when it’s been cut open.
I have plenty of information now to start compiling a reasonable composition , Have another look back at the sketches ,note how I have emphasised focal points .

01/01/2022

Most of you know that I like to portray a story in my botanical pieces so I’m starting this new year with a story of the reward of patience.
A few years ago just before all the horror that the Covid pandemic has inflicted on us ,I rescued a lemon tree that was about to be shredded because it wasn’t perfect. It’s branches had been snapped off all down one side making it very lop sided. The tree was over 6 years old . I made a very generous offer for the tree ,which was accepted and it’s lived in my conservatory ever since.
My next botanical piece will be the combination of sketches that I have recorded of (Lemony) throughout 2021.
It now has produced a huge lemon ,only one but it’s huge. Now that’s what I call the reward of patience .

27/12/2021

25/12/2021

I thought I would wind up this year by showing you all the piece that was entered into the SBA exhibition this year. (On line)
It was awarded a certificate of Botanical correctness ,the first time a piece of my work has been recognised by the Society of Botanical Artists. I was delighted.
The work has now been published in The Art of Nature.
I think most of you know how dedicated I have been in the promotion of Oil/pencil painting that this award should encourage all of you . Oil/pencil painting is here to stay so let’s all look forward to the wonderful work that next year may bring, particularly in the botanical world.
My Best wishes to you all for a Happy and Healthy New Year.

21/12/2021

This is another piece of work that was completed last year. Another stretch outside my comfort zone. The First EVER work in Oil Paint. I had been accepted on a course with an artist from America to produce museum quality portraits in Oil. However this was 2 years ago and because of the Covid situation it had been cancelled twice. Hopefully next year..
I had all the necessary equipment in the studio so using any source of information I could find ,I had a go. The sketching was no problem but oil paint is another world. I made so many mistakes but the medium is forgiving . I had to sign off on this eventually as it was a gift for a very deserving Colour Sergeant in the Royal Marines.The one thing I did discover is how much I love my oil pencil. 😁

20/12/2021

While I’m in this little phase of catch up I thought you may like to see the portrait of the “ Terrier Branch” This piece of work was completed just before my hiatus with Facebook . These fab little dogs are different generations but my clients wanted them all together so we worked from old photos. I was really pleased with the outcome and the image is now one of my new cards.