News

My garden is full of blooming Peony flowers today! I have used the Peony as inspiration for many of my fine art pieces in both colored pencil and silverpoint drawings.

This is an ongoing series that I have been working on using Silverpoint.  They are close up views of Peony flowers that grow every year in my garden. I spend hours photographing the flowers with my digital camera, cropping the images in Photoshop and then I print them out to use as reference photos.  I like to photograph in bright sunlight in order to get high contrast images-bright whites and dark shadows. 

What is silverpoint? Silverpoint is the art medium that the art masters, such as Rembrandt and Durer and Da Vinci used to draw with.  This technique/medium pre-dates the invention of the pencil. I discovered this medium while taking a Botanical Illustration class at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.  The instructor, Laura Vogele, brought in an amazing drawing of a Locust bug that she created in silverpoint and I was mesmerized. Immediately I went and bought the supplies and got to work.

The way it works is that a piece of sterling silver wire (a perfect art medium for a jewelry designer to use!) is placed into a mechanical pencil holder and drawn on a special clay coated paper. The silver will not work on any other paper.  Traditionally, the surface for drawing was rabbit skin glue, but I have issues with that, so it’s clay coated paper for me.  Silverpoint can not be erased, any mark that goes down, stays down so careful planning is required before beginning. 

Silverpoint drawing has a limited range of values that can be achieved so a careful rendering of the image is required or everything will be gray.  I make sure to save the white areas so my value scale will be more dramatic.  Another interesting element about it is that the silver in the drawing will slowly tarnish over time creating a warm patina, which I love. You can see in the above images how the silver turns into a warm grey.

On my drawing table today is a half finished silverpoint drawing of a bunch of asparagus. Planning on spending the weekend drawing. I will post the finished 'masterpiece' next week.

The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is one of my favorite public gardens to visit. I went there on this cold grey day to spend some time inside in their amazing greenhouses. Being surrounded by warm humid air and the scent of tropical flowers is such a fabulous way to enjoy a winter afternoon. 

Here are some of the flower photos I took during this trip.

I have taken botanical illustration classes at this esteemed institution for the last few years and am determined to, one day, finish the program and obtain my Botanical Illustration Certificate. There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything that I am passionate about!

Here is my 'Iris' colored pencil drawing.

My 'Peony Soul' colored pencil drawing.

And my 'Dahlia' colored pencil drawing. I try to get unusual angles on my botanical drawings, not your typical front view. Hope you enjoyed a peek into my fine art life!

To see more of my artwork please visit www.ebaumeistermcintyre.com

My garden is full of huge, gorgeous, fragrant peonies right now. I have spent hours photographing these beauties which I use as references for my colored pencil drawings, one of which is right here! 

"Peonies" Colored Pencil Drawing / 19" x 25" 

I also used one of my reference photographs to create a drawing of this peony which I then made into a wax carving that I cast into sterling silver. Just a little peek into my creative process!

"Peony Soul" Colored Pencil      "Peony Soul Pendant" Sterling Silver
8.5" x 11"