Wild Flowers Bloom (and Rain Falls)

21 - 25th May: 1st Microseason of Shōman (Lesser Ripening)

Hello and thanks for reading my newsletter on art and the seasons.

Oh, how this microseason has changed since I began writing it! After a calm and sunny few weeks, it has turned to rain here in Edinburgh; the sleepy Water of Leith becoming full and fast.

Before this shift in the weather, though, I had been enjoying the wildflowers - delicate bursts of colour along the green banks of the river. This is good news, I’ve learned this week, as there has been a deliberate attempt to boost the biodiversity in the area. Wildflowers are an important part of our ecosystem, supplying food and pollen for our insects, bees, and eventually birds.

I’ve never been one to pay much attention to the wildflowers, so this year I endeavoured to understand them better. I first took a walk along the Water of Leith to draw, photograph, and identify all the flowers I could. (I used the Plantnet app, though I've recently discovered a vintage British Flora book in our bookshelves that I might dig into a little deeper…)

There were some many more flowers than I anticipated! From Campion to Comfrey, Crane’s Bill and Cow Parsley…

I then returned a few days later to collect samples for drawing in detail:

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Sketchbook Notes:

I recently watched this youtube video by Melanie Chadwick (I believe there will soon be a process video on Melanie’s Substack, Seasalt and Serpentine) about making a small concertina sketchbook. I was inspired to make my own for wildflower drawing, here are the results!

For this, I used my Daler Rowney Smooth Heavyweight paper, prepped with natural watercolours by Criativa Terra. I then topped it with a mix of gouache, pencils, and Neocolour IIs and a lot of Zest it medium.