STORY BEHIND THE ART OF Akiko Enokido
25th Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists and Wave Hill
Camellia chrysantha
I have painted camellias every year since I exhibited the classic camellia varieties at the Royal Horticultural Society Botanical Art Exhibition in London in 2016. They were red, pink, and white flowers, and some had variegated patterns. This year, I finally got a chance to get a branch of this rare yellow camellia, which I have always wanted to paint. I was lucky to receive it from a camellia collector, a member of the (now defunct) Kobe Camellia Society.
Camellia chrysantha is endemic to Guangxi province in southern China and in a limited area in Vietnam. It grows two to three meters tall and is an evergreen shrub. The leaves, young shoots, and flowers are used as medicinal herbs.
This flower is characterized by a bright yellow color and a thick glossy texture like candle wax. When I paint camellias, I usually use vellum, a very effective material for expressing the wax-like texture of the leaf surface and the way it refracts light. I painted this work on calfskin vellum stretched on a 1cm thick plywood board, cut to A4 size.
Vellum does not absorb paint pigments, and thin, carefully applied layers of color allow the various shades of color to show through on the translucent surface of the skin. Furthermore, yellow camellia buds are covered with hard petals, like candles, so I found that layering paint was the perfect way to describe them.
The leaves of the yellow camellia are much longer, and thinner, with much clearer veins than those of Camellia japonica, making them look like the muscles of a bodybuilder. The beauty of these strong leaves is one of the characteristics I especially wanted to express in this painting.
I try to draw not only the characteristics of the flower but also the direction of the leaves and the habit. In addition, I prefer to paint camellias in their original size, without enlarging them. Depicting the gesture and actual size of A plant helps to convey not only the color and texture but also the beautiful presence of the flower to the viewer.
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Read more about this artist's work:24th Annual