Cheap Art Supplies

 I’m on a mission to finish up this sketchbook, so you’ll see a lot more art. This is one in the series of bad sketchbooks I’ve purchased over the years. Additionally I have bad watercolour box that I’ve been tagging along for ages (almost 16 years actually). I wonder if it is going to make my art bad. It is I think.  I can’t layer. I do single washes. The results are really short of amazing. But I do feel guilty keeping on buying new ones. Ha ha ha. Maybe I’ll make a concession and only every other painting will be using bad materials. 

Slow Mornings

 

It’s summer vacations! My son is allowed to sleep in late. 

Bad Ink

 It’s really weird how the last 24 hours have been my worst for inking. First I fully spilled the new ink bottle I had purchased yesterday. Then I spilled ink on the drawing I was making (my largest ink drawing at least). And finally I dropped my dip pen and broke its nib. 

Will have to do it all over again over the weekend. 

Tecomaria Capensis (Cape Honeysuckle)

 

Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus)

 

Wallflower (Erysimum)

 

Verbena

 

Sweet Pea

 

Salvia

 

Ranunculus

 

Poppy

 

Phlox

 

Pansy

 

Hypericum

 

Foxglove

 

Aster

 

Botanical Name	Symphyotrichum
Common Names	Asters, New England asters, frost flowers
Plant type	Herbaceous perennial
Mature Size	1–6 ft. tall, 1–4 ft. wide (varies by type)
Sun Exposure	Full sun
Soil Type	Loamy, well-drained
Soil pH	Neutral to acidic
Bloom time	Summer, fall
Flower Color	Purple, pink, blue, white
Hardiness Zones	3–8 (USDA)
Native Area	North America

Asperula

 

Asperula Growing and Care Guide

Common Names: Woodruff, Squinancywort. Woodruff: Sweet; Common; Blue; Mountain; Alpine; Prickly; Pink.
Family: Rubiaceae.
Life Cycle: Hardy annual. Hardy perennial.
Height: 4 to 12 inches (10 to 20 cm).
Native: Europe.

Growing Region: Zones 3 to 9.
Flowers: Annuals: mid-summer. Perennials: late spring.
Flower Details: White, pink, blue. Fragrant. Tiny.
Foliage: Lanceolate. Whorls. Evergreen. Herbaceous.

Sow Outdoors: Surface. Annuals: spring. Perennials: spring and early summer. Spacing 3 to 9 inches (7 to 22cm).
Sow Indoors: Use fresh seed. Sow in a container, wrap in a plastic bag and place in the fridge for two weeks. Remove then germinate in the light. Germination time: three to seven weeks. Temperature 50°F (10°C). Transplant outdoors following the last frost.

Requirements: Best results in full sunlight, but can grow in partial shade. Mulch with leaf mold. Soil pH 4.5 to 5.5. Humus rich, moist soils. Propagate perennials by stem cuttings or by division in spring or autumn.
Family: Rubiaceae.
Miscellaneous: If using for cooking them remove leaves before flowering and allow to dry.

How to Grow Asperula

If growing annual varieties of Asperula outdoors, it is best to pre-chill the seeds about ten weeks before sowing out in the spring. Perennial varieties can be planted out in the spring beginning of summer.

Woodruff typically takes about 3 to 6 weeks to germinate. Seeds should be sown in pots, then wrapped in a plastic bag to protect from light; the tray should then be refrigerated for about two weeks.

Following this imbibing process, the tray should be placed in light at a temperature of ten degrees Celsius.

Seedlings should then be transplanted after the last frost of winter or spring, smaller species of Asperula should be spaced at about 10 cm whereas larger Asperula varieties should be planted about 20 cm apart.

Ideally they should be planted into a soil which is acidic in nature (pH 4.5 to 5.5); the soil should be moist and humus rich.

Caring for Asperula

The Asperula plant is pretty easy to look after; if you plan to use the leaves for cooking, then the leaves should be harvested before flowering has occurred.

It is best to grow annuals from seeds, but perennial varieties can be divided in the spring or autumn to create more plants.

August Flowers

 

Sow the seeds of the following winter flowers:

Asperula	Aster	Dahlia	Daisy
Dianthus	Foxgloves	Hollyhocks	Hypericum
Marigold	Pansy	Petunia	Phlox
Poppy	Ranunculus (Seeds & bulbs)	Salvia	Sweet pea
Verbena	Wall flowers	Sweet William	Telcomaria

Vegetables seeds for the winter crop should be sown as given below:

Brinjal	Cabbage	Capsicum	Cauliflower
Onions	Radish	Lettuce	Tomato

Asperula

Giget #0

This painting was supposed to be a part of WetCanvas.com WDE. I should've known hair are damn difficult to draw leave alone painting them. I plan to complete this with charcoal and pastels some other time. The proportions don't seem to be right either :/

#2

I can still work a bit on this but as usual I am bored. I adjusted the exposure on Windows Photo editor. I don't know why my photos are not coming so bright. Need to find out whether my Canon Photoshot is the problem or do I need to scan these images.
Happy with this in any case. It can be a watercolour or acrylic work in the future.