Aerides thibautiana: Bird-like Orchids and Colours Permanency

Blossoms that look like a band of birds praying

When I first time saw Aerides thibautiana while glancing through orchids in my favourite nursery, I almost missed this remarkable subject of painting. The orchid had tiny blossoms and modest, all purple colour, unnoticeable pattern and common petals shape. However, after I could not find what I looked for, I scrutinized again the Indonesian orchids that were blooming. As I paid close attention to the Aerides thibautiana, I was surprised to see what I saw, an orchid that resembled band of birds!

I had seen some pictures of unique orchids that looked like other species, but only on the internet. That day, I finally found one myself and it was native to Indonesia. What a prize! 

Do you see what I saw? Doesn't Aerides thibautiana look like a band of bird praying? 

Since the plant was quite expensive, I was so grateful that Mrs. Tarigan (the owner of the nursery) gave me an inflorescence to bring home. She even offered me to take more than one (I refused) and other orchid blossoms as well.

At home I quickly photographed the flowers since I didn't want to miss their prime time. Later, I was happy to be able to paint the illustration based on my photograph and the specimen, which surprisingly remained intact for almost a week.

Colour Permanency

I knew I would want to use Opera Rose to imitate the vivid colours of the blossoms. However, since I learnt that Opera Rose is one of those fugitive colours, I replaced it with WN Quinacridone Magenta, which used the same pigment PR122 but without the fluorescent dye.

Fugitive colours are colours which are based on impermanent pigments or dyes that lighten, darken, or otherwise change in appearance over time. The opposite of fugitive is lightfast, which meant (a dye or pigment) not prone to discoloration when exposed to light and the atmosphere.

The recognised testing system of lightfastness is ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials). They rate and classify paints to: I (excellent), II (very good), III (moderate) and IV (poor). If a paint has not been rated, it is described as N/A= No assignation (Not Rated). Reputable paint manufacturers usually provide information about the lightfastness and other qualities of the paints, such as Winsor & Newton. You can check their websites or check the label of your paints. Further, you consult an easy to read yet informative blog post, "What are fugitive colours?" by Katherine Tyrrell or read (and bookmark!) a very useful source, Handprint.

I learnt that some florilegiums and botanical societies and some reputable exhibitions require artists to use only paints with good permanency rating (I and II only). Thus, rather than finding my work got rejected from an exhibition, I resisted my personal satisfaction in seeing vivid opera rose colour for this botanical work. However, I still keep some fugitive but favourite of people paints on my paint box, e.g. Alizarin Crimson, Aureolin, Rose Madder Genuine and of course, Opera Rose and sometimes I use them for short-term or reproduction-orientation commissions.

The replacement paint, Quinacridone Magenta has exactly the same pigment PR122, which "is a lightfast, semitransparent, staining, dark valued, intense violet red pigment", said Bruce MacEvoy from Handprint, "PR122 has the strongest violet hue of any violet red pigment available in watercolors". However, after using it a lot in this painting (along with Winsor Violet (Dioxazine) PV23 and Permanent Rose PV19), I found that it underwent a drying shift. The dried paint was not as bright/saturated as when it was still wet. Sadly it slightly lightened. Adding more layers of the same paint somewhat helped but only to a certain level, not as intense as I wished.

Anyway, I am happy to gain this insight. I love to know how different each paint behaves (oftentimes not a big deal) and how practice gives me idea on how to deal with it.

Here are my work in progress and scanned illustration of Aerides thibautiana.

Dendrobium spectabile: Limited Palette and Magic Eraser Sponge

LIMITED PALETTE

Learning from my failures when painting Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi and how important to effectively pick and mix paints, I decided to do my Dendrobium spectabile with as few pigments as possible. I used only 3+1 paints, W&N Perylene Maroon (PM), Indanthrene Blue (IB), and Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow Light (HYL) and, for some area, Permanent Rose.

I am pleased that these four are all single-pigment paints and two of them (PM and IB) have a great range of colour-mix, from which I could get all colours I need to paint the orchid. They covered the "white" lip/labellum, greenish yellow sepals and petals, to the very dark burgundy pattern on the lip.

Beside having significant amount of clarity of colours when finished, I found painting with fewest possible pigments eased my mind. I worked with wet in wet washes a lot, which allowed me to let the paint flow and mingle with each other. These limited palette really helped me avoid muddy colours, which could easily result from inadvertent clashes of pigments. In addition, the limited pallete brought about harmony to the whole painting.

MAGIC ERASER SPONGE

Magic eraser sponge can completely remove unwanted marks from the paper but I avoided using it due to its abrasive nature. However, I made a mistake, which couldn't be erased using eradicator brush. Hence, I used my eraser sponge this time, but with care. 

My tips of using magic eraser sponge:
1. Make sure the colouring is final. Once rubbed with the sponge, the paper surface impacted is somewhat damage and difficult to paint.
2. Use masking tape to protect the other area for precise result. Make sure all paint and paper is completely dried.
3. I cut the sponge into a small square because I prefer to use pointy corners to rub tiny areas.
4. Dampen the sponge and rub it gently until the unwanted mark completely removed. Wash and rinse the sponge regularly.
5. Remove the masking tape when the paper completely is dried
6. If you need to tidy the edge, apply only dry brush, as dry as possible.

DENDROBIUM SPECTABILE

The orchids are native to Papua island (Indonesia and PNG). The blossoms have an alien look, but I fell in love with it since our first encounter at a local orchids nursery in Yogyakarta back in 2013. Their extremely twisted sepals, petals and curling lip made them look as if they danced and their intricate patterns were the very first reason I had a crush on them.

By mid of this month, I visited the same nursery and I was happy to find it bloomed, reminded me of my long desire to paint it. So here is my latest painting, Dendrobium spectabile, The Dancer!

Paphio praestans: Back to Indonesia

While preparing for my return to Indonesia for good, I managed to paint this before leaving Sheffield. I have received too much blessings while living in the UK, which I lose count, but the most important one is my journey through botanical arts. I am not sure how my new-found love for botanical art will survive Indonesia since finding botanical art societies, even fellow artists, will be difficult in my home country. However, let's worry not. Instead, I thank for all things life has given me. Hence, I'd rather think about many intriguing plants in Indonesia waiting to be painted!

This is a painting of Paphiopedilum praestans, lady slipper orchid from Papua, Indonesia, based on my study sketch and photographs of the specimen I did last year. Somehow having a baby changed my initial plan on how to paint it. I left my previous sketch of a complete plant (with leaves and roots), then drew a new sketch driven by my current feelings. If you notice it, I paint the blossomed flower to pose as if hugging the bud. Have I become such a sentimental painter now?

"The Old and The Young I", Paphiopedilum praestans. Watercolours on Fabriano Artistico HP paper.

[ORCHIDS] Study sketch of Vanda arcuata

Vanda arcuata from Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. I made the sketch bigger than the life size, easier for me to paint the pattern.

[ORCHIDS] Study sketch of Vanda tricolor

Trying to make the best of my spare time for the Indonesian orchids project by working on the study sketch and colour test of Vanda tricolor (from West Java) while the baby sleeps. I am afraid that I can't make the final illustration yet at this moment...

[ORCHIDS] Study sketch of Coelogyne pandurata

A few days before I delivered baby Nawang, I made a colour test of the black orchids (Coelogyne pandurata) from Borneo, whose flowers blossomed less than 5 days. It has no flower anymore but the colour test will help me to paint the illustration later. I already made the sketch while it bloomed and took some photographs of it.

The green petals were quite simple, whereas the black lips were the real challenge! And I am afraid I can't capture its intricacy well in the real life size illustration :p

[ORCHIDS] Study sketch of Paphiopedilum praestans

Alongside with the Paphiopedilum gloucopyllum illustration, I am working on the colour test of Paphiopedilum praestans before all the flowers wither and flop. This study will guide me to paint the illustration with proper colours.

The first flower withered and just flopped this afternoon, slightly turned more yellowish :(

[ORCHIDS] WIP of Paphiopedilum glaucophyllum

Starting to work on the Paphiopedilum glaucophyllum illustration yesterday, I met new challenges.

I have never painted on ±A2 (38 x 56 cm) sized paper beforehand. This "big" size format requires me to buy new stretch boards and to find comfortable positions to paint. With my small table easel, it is hard to feel comfortable (believe me) especially for someone with a big "38 weeks" belly. I stood, but quickly felt worn out. Then I put the easel lower on another chair so I can sit while painting. It is better but I feel stuck when I want to lean forward to work on the details. What a challenge, isn't it? :p

Another challenge was when I found my specimen lost its flower buds and two munching caterpillars nicely sat on the leaves. I was so broken-hearted for the flower buds. But I moved on to paint the glossy orchid leaves, which is something new for me! If you notice, I hardly painted any leaves. Thanks to the caterpillars I do now.



To paint the glossy leaves I use wet on wet washes a lot. I also try to apply subtle bluish highlight as I saw on Katty Pickles's wonderful botanical works. It was not done yet, but today's progress (especially the leaves) lifted up my spirit :)

[ORCHIDS] Study sketch of Paphiopedilum glaucophyllum

Trying to capture the colours of Tropical Ladys-Slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum glaucophyllum) before the flower flop. This species is endangered and endemic to East and Southwest Java (Mount Semeru) and in Central Sumatra, Indonesia.

[SKETCHBOOK] Pigeon Orchids

Yesterday, the pigeon orchids at our residence bloomed.
They smelled so good but, too bad, the flowers withered
in a day.

Since I want to make botanical artworks of Indonesian
orchids during my stay in Yogyakarta, I took this available
specimen for a rehearsal. I made a study sketch on it.
I found that I need to understand, not only how to paint,
but the plant itself. I felt ashamed that as an Indonesian
I know nothing about orchids whereas Indonesia is one
of the world's richest country of orchids species.

I hope I can manage my time between the project
and my pregnancy. *fingers crossed :)