ASBA Annual Meeting and Fiona Strickland

Maryann Roper
November 3, 2016

 

For the first time (ever), I went to this year's American Society of Botanical Artists' (ASBA) Annual Meeting.  My main reason for going was to see the Hunt Institute's Triennial Exhibit, opening in conjunction with the ASBA meeting. It is one of the best showcases internationally for contemporary botanical art.    

The meeting itself was also inspiring. A special treat was a session called 'Techniques', with Fiona Strickland as one of the featured artists. You can see her work in the Member Gallery on the ASBA website, and at the website for the Jonathan Cooper Gallery in London, where, until November 12, she has a show of her botanical watercolor paintings. Her paintings are remarkable for their incredibly detailed drawing and for their bold color.

In any work of art "...the viewer and the painter have a dialogue..."

Fiona Strickland

I love to hear how other artists paint ... for inspiration and for practical tips. From my notes, here are some of her thoughts.

• She stores/organizes her paints by their level of transparency. And prefers to use only the most transparent colors.
• To help find colors, and to have a visual of each color always on hand, she has made a paint chart that corresponds to the location of each tube of paint (Winsor & Newton) in her storage trays. She also keeps handwritten charts with additional information about each color (transparency, lightfastness, etc).
• She uses Winsor & Newton sable brushes, mostly Size 2.
• She takes 'hundreds' of photos of her subject: for reference and for accuracy ...and because it often takes 3 or more months for her to finish a painting ... and the subject may be long gone by then.
• She spends a lot of time observing the subject and tries to show 'something unexpected' about it in her composition.
• She does a VERY detailed drawing and lifts much of the graphite after transferring it, using a 3H or 4H pencil on the watercolor paper. She spends a lot of time to make her drawing exact.
• She begins with a pale wash in a small area. And tries to pack as much information (details, color changes, shading) as possible into each small space.
• She works - almost to completion - one small section at a time
• She always uses complements, never blacks, for shadows and shading.
• Because her paintings are often large (her subjects are often larger than life-sized), she uses a tilt table. She puts her paper on a foam core board in order to be able to turn it without touching or creasing it.

An interesting point, to me, was that, despite the accuracy and details of her drawings, she made the point that her paintings were not primarily about science ... but more about making an emotional connection with the viewer.

An interesting point, to me, was that, despite the accuracy and details of her drawings, she made the point that her paintings were not primarily about science ... but more about making an emotional connection with the viewer.

Another impressive lesson was the time she spends in observation and drawing ...she doesn't rush into painting.

Finally, the larger-than-life size of her subjects allows each subject to make a huge impact on the viewer ...because she draws in such detail, the size allows the details to be seen and appreciated.(It was also interesting to me that about half of the paintings in the Hunt Institute Exhibit were also larger-than-life sized.)

If you have the chance to see her work in person, or attend a workshop that she is teaching ... it will be well worth your time!