STORY BEHIND THE ART OF LYNNE RAILSBACK

Botanical Art Worldwide: America's Flora

Oak Leaf Lace

Quercus rubra

There are a variety of native oak trees on my property in Wisconsin. Some of their leaves fall from the trees in October and others may hang on until April or May. As they decompose many develop fascinating patterns within the outline of the leaf. I collect those I consider to be the most appealing and store them for a potential painting. While looking through my collection, the delicate red oak leaf caught my eye. What fun it would be to illustrate the intricate pattern of this dried up specimen!

After selecting a sheet of Moulon du Roy hot press archival paper, I prepared my palette. As with all my watercolors, I limited the pigments to: Aureolin, Quinacridone Pink, Burnt Umber, French Ultramarine Blue and Viridian. My practice is not to do preliminary sketches, but I did mount the specimen on a piece of white foam core. It became my composition. The next step was to pick up my favorite brush: Jack Richeson’s 9000 series size 000. I do have a few other brushes for washes, as well as W & N Sceptre Gold II series triple 0 for finer details.  

Upon completion, it turned out to be one of my favorite pieces and I hope the viewers feel this way too.

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Read more about this artist’s work: 17th Annual