Class Reflection: Fruit, Berries & Seedheads with Reinhild Raistrick SBA
Autumn’s vibrant colour changes brought on a new challenge that stretched my budding abilities.
I travelled down to Cambridge to take a class, Illustrating Fruit, Berries and Seedheads, with SBA Fellow Reinhild Raistrick. She is an accomplished botanical artist who has won RHS Gold Medals and a Grenfell Medal for her work. I am mesmerized by her art, especially her show stopping Orchids from Lindisfarne ‘Holy Island’. I love her use of colour and perspective, I felt blessed to be able to attend a class run by her!
Lindisfarne ‘Holy Island Wild Orchids by Reinhild Raistrick
Reinhild’s class was held in a beautiful studio at the back of Cambridge University’s Botanical Gardens. I was awestruck at the beauty of both the city and gardens. As class began, students had a variety of subjects to choose from to depict with watercolours. With Reinhild’s thoughtful guidance, I decided upon Lords-and-Ladies Arum maculatum. I was determined to paint something challenging and I figured two days was enough time to finish off the subject (how wrong I was!).
The UK native plant, Arum maculatum, presented several challenges I’d not painted before; lots of shiny tiny berries, massive stems requiring large washes (I find water control here such a challenge!) and tiny textured details on the stems. I started off how I would paint any subject, a tonal sketch, of both plants. I find tonal studies valuable to help understand how light hits the subject. Reinhild helped me decide on two plants for a balanced composition (the rush begins!). I took a bit more time on the first tonal sketch than the second because by the second I recognized the nuances of the subject more. With my rough tonal studies finished, I was ready to begin the lightbox transfer to watercolour paper and then the main event, painting! After a few colour observations at the bottom of my page (and another student kindly lent me their scarlet lake paint!). I was ready to kick off the painting. This is finally where I found myself getting lost in the process and tackled the stems first as I was more comfortable with the large washes. Timing here was key and I got some nice smooth washes. I finished up with dry brushing the details with my smallest brushes. With Reinhild’s encouragement, I attempted some of the shiny berries too, although I wasn’t the happiest with their results. By the end of the second day, I finished half the composition leaving some of the berries for some work at home.
Overall, this class was such a delight and I wish it was several days longer! I took home my toxic plant specimen on the train home (what an adventure!) to finish the composition at home. Reinhild was such an encouraging teacher. After taking her class, I promised myself to take my botanical journey even further and apply for a botanical art certificate… stay tuned for that new adventure!
