Spring sprung hard this week, with brilliant sunshine and temperatures in the 70ºs. It’s all I can do to stay inside and do the work, even the fun, creative work that I love doing. The garden is calling! Luckily, I’ve been able to spend a chunk of the week working on a little series I started last month, a study of medicinal plants that are growing in my garden. I started it because I wanted to know more about each plant and its medicinal properties, especially as I’m hoping to make some tea blends from my herbs this year. I thought I could make little illustrated flash cards of my garden babies. But the more I learned about the plants – the folklore and magical associations as well as the medicinal properties – the more I wanted to dive in deeper. I don’t know if a flash card is going to cut it.
In any case, I have a lot more to learn, but here is a little preview of the series. I’ve been learning Procreate, so I imported the gouache paintings in to the program and added text and line work there. I like the effect, and it’s a little less commitment than painting over my initial paintings. I still have several more to add, but here are the first five.
(And for those of you paying attention, yes, I’m a day late – I’m working on it! Consistency!!)