A Trio of Peonies
I don’t know whether it’s been my neglect or all the rain, but our peonies put on a less than stellar display this year. We had a few blooms and, thankfully, I cut three to enjoy indoors before a big downpour that I knew would knock them to the ground. These three have made a lovely display on the kitchen counter and I finally spent a few minutes sketching them before their inevitable fall from grace.
Tips & Techniques– The drawing stage of this page began with a continuous line drawing. Basically, you put your pen on the paper and don’t pick it up again until you’ve captured your subject. I gave myself a 10-minute time limit, but you might try it with less. The nice part about working this way is that it builds hand-eye coordination and creates a nice flow and looseness to the drawing. After sketching the blooms, I added some hatching to create tone and depth, and then I added a loose watercolor wash to the flowers and background. The final result is a bit wonky, but I love that I managed to capture the peonies without a lot of fuss, in a limited time, and before they faded completely.
Materials: Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook, Micron 02 pen, with alizarin crimson, manganese blue, and Hansa yellow medium watercolors
Drawn In 
Lovely! Our peonies were short lived due to rain as well. Good reminder to practice continuous line drawing! Thank you Jean.
I have another two blooms today, which is great, but overall, it was a weak show. Other people’s peonies nearby seem to be more prolific…so it’s likely a combination of rain and my gardening inattention.
I like the muted tones of this, and your use of continuous line work. Did you know you can keep an unopened bud in a ziploc bag stored in the refrigerator? It will keep for about 3 months-when you need a “peony fix” to a display, cut a bit off the bottom and place it in water and watch it bloom! Exact details can be found online, but it works!
Wow. I had no idea about refrigeration. Peonies tucked away behind the juice and opened spaghetti sauce! Thanks for the tip.
great save Jean! Your continuous line drawings and light washes really illustrate the delicate nature of the flower petals. Love the composition and how you added the continuous line drawing script to the border. Ingenious.
Thanks Barb– Looks like you’ve been very busy with sketching yourself lately.
Gorgeous
Luscious blooms and soft – beautiful pages. 🫶🏻
Thank you!
Gorgeous…this inspires me to try my hand at capturing the lushness of my white peonies – gone now but I took some photos.
It’s a simple exercise, so I hope you’ll give it a go.
Dear Jean
Beautiful flowers, beautiful picture.
Thanks for sharing
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks for your comment, which led me to visit your blog. A lovely meeting of peonies!
Thank you 🙏 🙏
Love the loose exuberance of the blossoms, nearly flying off the page!