Friday, January 23, 2009

The Jacobite Rose

So last night I was surprised by an Irish coffee made by my husband :) Since I had spent the day working on my blog (with the very kind input from a few friends) I had not yet drawn anything. The coffee was perfect- my skills at drawing have improved considerably since I last drew a coffee mug!



And this is the flower from which my blog gets its name- the Jacobite Rose. In Latin, it is the Rosa alba 'maxima', which just means the big white rose :) It is what is known as a 'full' bloom- you can tell from the number of petals. A Rosa alba 'semi-plena' would be the 'half bloom' flower- or the one with just the single set of petals surrounding the centre. The rose in my header is a 'semi-plena' one :)

This rose is said to have been one of the symbols of the Jacobite rebellion- somewhat of a tradition in the UK when you think of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster and the Tudor rose...




None the less, this Jacobite rose is from a photo of OUR Jacobite rose :) and is really the namesake of the blog :)

4 comments:

  1. Wow, I feel like I learned a lot while having a fun time. From Irish Coffee to drawings to flowers. What a great range of topics brought together.

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  2. LOL Hazards of a homeschooling parent- I have a tendency to teach a lot *grin*. LIFE becomes a teachable moment, and I love to share these little things- well because they are interesting! :)
    Thank you!

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  3. Your blog has made me want to draw something every day. Every day I can't wait to see what you have drawn. About how much time do you spend on one drawing? I realize it would vary acoording to subject matter, but could you make an approximation? Also, do you schedule a specific time of day?
    What is you background in art?

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  4. Why thank you Ladybug :)
    I typically spend up to an hour on a drawing, although have been known to take much longer- the clementine was an all-morning thing- in between teaching my kids :) The coffee cup on the other hand was maybe a 10 minute thing. I try to pick a time when I can work uninterrupted, or minimally interrupted. This usually means in the evenings while I watch TV. I find, so some odd reason, that watching TV helps- I think it has to do with the analytical part of my mind being occupied and therefore unable to critique the artistic part ;)
    Sometimes I will work during our school hours- more as a way to keep myself busy. I only do that if I am working from a photo though- since they don't move *grin*.
    My background in art is non-professional. I drew in school, until I was 16, when I was unable to take the A' Level art course due to scheduling conflicts. I had been very lucky in my art teacher- who taught us properly the basics of shading, perspective and the visual tricks you see in the books :) After that I pretty much drew rarely until a couple of years back, when I decided to start drawing again. Then it was an on again off again relationship until last year, when my 'off' gaps were much shorter. Mostly because I saw the 'raw' talent improve into a much more polished one with practise.
    I highly recommend books out there for people who want to learn. yes, art courses are nice, but time and money can make this a hard thing to manage. There are some great online courses, well worth looking into, but ultimately I think books can really help you polish up your skills.
    I think I will make a page of recommended books later, because I do get asked it a lot LOL :)
    hope this helps!

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