Handmade Book of Winter

‘Images of Winter’, a handmade book of winter. I made the images for this over the last two winters and have finally put it all together. Many of the specimens were collected on winter walks or painted from photographs I took. The lichen mosaic at the end was done as part of a project run by natural history artist Sarah Morrish over last winter. The book comprises watercolour and pen and ink illustrations. The single leaves are painted on Lokta paper which gives them some texture and a realistic look.

Lichen Project

Sarah Morrish of Illustrating Nature’s Details ran a project recently to draw a lichen mosaic which I took part in. I am interested in lichens and have several guides to them although most are extremely difficult to identify. These are common lichen that I found in local woods. I photographed them and enlarged the pictures so that I could see the detail to draw them. They are clockwise from top left – Lecidella elaeochroma, Ramalina farinacea, Xanthoria parietina and Evernia prunastri and are all found on bark or twigs.

Redwing

A departure from my normal subject matter of plants today. I have been watching these redwings recently in the trees outside my windows. They are very attractive birds with their plumage resembling a thrush and the red streaks under their wings. They are related to the thrush but smaller. They feast on berries and one of their favourites are the rowan berries which I have painted . They migrate to the UK in the winter from the colder climates of Iceland and Scandinavia where they spend the warmer months.

Drawings for a Winter Book

I have recently been working on these drawings/paintings for a handmade book of winter subjects to follow on from the autumn book I made previously. The individual leaves are painted on Lokta paper which gives them a natural appearance due to the texture of the paper which is made from the bark of the Lokta bush found in the Himalayas. Although destined for the book the paintings make an attractive picture when combined together. A few more subjects still to add before the collection is complete.