I have just completed typesetting (I hope for the last time before publishing) the fourth book in the River Friend Series I am co-authoring with Sylvia Haslam.
The first page in this book shows the famous poem by William Henry Davies (1871-1940) “Leisure” surrounded by an illuminary border which I composed and outlined with pen and ink. This version is currently in the final typeset.
However, last week I purchased some new paints. Daniel Smith Iridescent water colours and over the weekend I decided to try them out by colouring up the original ink drawing illumination. The colours are: Electric Blue, Ruby, Copper, Topaz, White, Aussie Red Gold, Aztec Gold, as well as Imperial Purple (which is not iridescent but a gorgeous vivid purple – quite royal!).
The paints were beautiful to use and I mixed them with ordinary water colour to see what other effects I could achieve. The results are a lovely luminescent painting; a screen view here does not do them justice. I can’t wait to try them out on botanical work (I recently purchased some strong all-black water colour paper), and a Golden pheasant painting I am currently working on will probably receive a bit of iridescent treatment!
Which would you prefer to see as the starter page in the fourth book: “INTERPRET: What Do Plants Tell Us?”. Other titles in the series are listed on our River Friend website.
COLOURED VERSION:
EXISTING VERSION IN THE BOOK TO BE PUBLISHED:
