Picture Profile: Dahlia: Bishop of Llandaff. Artist Code 2204.
Artist Code 2204. Started 7 September 2021, completed 3rd March 2022. ORIGINAL Water colour on Aquarelle Arches 100% Cotton Rag, 140lbs 12” x 16”
I regularly attend botanical art refresher courses at Cambridge University Botanic Gardens, and in September 2021 I enrolled in a class to paint Autumn flowers. There were so many plants to choose from that I was quite in a quandary.
However, I kept harking back to the beautiful shape and colour of this Dahlia and, when I learned its name “Bishop of Llandaff”, it became even more intriguing – so my choice was made.
Trying to complete a botanical artwork in three days never works for me, so I had to do as much as time would allow and hope that I had enough colour drafts of each piece of the plant and a good memory to enable me to complete the work in due course.
Upon its reappearance on my itinerary of artworks in March 2022, I became aware that the original drawing, which was traced and put onto my lovely water colour paper during the course seemed slightly unbalanced. So I added an extra stalk and flower which rendered the composition likeable! So it all came to fruition nicely in March 2022!
