I seem to have gotten into “creative mode” since the decision to work with the celery root as a subject. This may have to do with the deliberate choice of something I knew I would struggle with. The challenge seems to have woken me up, which I like. I’ll have to take care not to exhaust my enthusiasm and motivation though. But somehow I’ve gotten over the motivational crises that caught me in the middle of the course and I hope that using course materials as a point of departure and trying to be inventive in approach will keep me from getting bored. It is really a matter of exploring one topic in depth and developing variations
Celery root, anyone?
After the sketches from different angles I wondered whether I was the first person on earth to have the glorious idea of trying to depict a celery root. I wondered how others might have coped with the problems I encountered. A google search brought up three proofs I was not first, but apparently among only a few who ventured. Of hundreds of images that came up, I saw only three depictions that were handmade.
The first was a very detailed and coloured botanical drawing, used as an advertising poster for Hollywood’s farmer’s market vegetables, made in watercolour by Sally Jacobs. I found out that she’s a contemporary botanical artist, and has a deliberate training in botanical art through training at Otis College of Art and Design and the New York Botanical Art Certification program. I wondered whether the painting was made after a photograph but after seeing more work I thought not, because of the way plasticity was achieved. I think the subtle exaggeration of contrasts in the depiction of detail is characteristic for work from real objects, I’ve never seen it in work from photographs. It may have to do with the mind’s desire to make the object clearer to itself by leading the hand to exaggerate contours and edges.
And indeed, on her webpage Sally Jacobs states that she works from real objects. There are many more examples of her work, very colourful and detailed. Interestingly she points out that in botanical art, the focus is on accurate representation of every detail of the plant, and that patience and the ability for prolonged concentration are crucial. Her pencil and pen drawings take 40 – 50 hours to complete, the watercolour paintings 80 – 100 hours.
I guess here’s the key to my difficulties with the accurate approach. I am not able to concentrate for longer than about an hour or so. So it’s no wonder that I wasn’t able to achieve anything even moderately close to this masterly botanical drawing. But when I write a science text or work on a software program, I seem to be able to concentrate for hours without problems. So the ability to concentrate for prolongued times may have to do with practice. I think when I started the drawing course my time span was even shorter, maybe like 20 minutes, and I seem to have already built up a bit of that muscle.
The second celery root depiction I found was a silverpoint study by Rhode Island Art Professor Clara Lieu. I thought it was a pencil drawing, but learned from the Artist’s website that this was not the case.
Silverpoint is an interesting medium. I think I came across it researching classical drawings, but had never considered trying it out. Clara Lieu points out that the drawings do not have much contrast and are very subtle, and that they change their colours to a brown tone after some months. I did some background research and found that depending on the technique and perseverance with a drawing, more intense tones can be achieved.
Silverpoint mages are made with a pen that has a silver point, using a special support ground that is particularly well suited for this technique. Fine metal particles are left on the ground by abrasion, and this forms the extremely fine linework. But the medium also permits different types of marks, somewhat similar to the different ways a pencil can be applied to create shadings. Even Silver spoons seem to work as tools for the technique.
So the medium seems to be very well adapted for depicting all the fine details of the celery root. But I’m a bit reluctant to try it out because I’m not sure whether that’s the way I want to proceed. Maybe I can achieve similar results with hard pencils, like 2H or even harder. I might try this and then see whether I want to pursue the direction or not.
Finally I found the painting “Celery root and avocados” by Amy Weiskopf (2012). It is photorealistic and somewhat stylized. I think it is technically well executed, but I don’t seem to be able to like this kind of painting. I prefer a looser style with less defined details.
This preference for a looser, more expressive style may become a major issue with my work for this assignment. I’m not sure how I can find my personal way between the apparent focus of the task to acquire technical skills for naturalistic observation and my tendency to dislike photorealistic depictions. I admire the skill, but I don’t like the results.
Resources
Celery root poster by Sally Jacobs https://store.sallyjacobs.com/shop/celery-root/
Sally Jacobs, botanical artist website http://www.sallyjacobs.com
Silverpoint drawings of celery root by Clara Lieu http://claralieu.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/silverpoint-experiments/
Very comprehensive resource on silverpoint drawings: http://www.silverpointweb.com/
Celery root and Avocados (2012) by Amy Weiskopf from http://www.1stdibs.com/art/paintings/still-life-paintings/amy-weiskopf-celery-root-avocados/id-a_53913/