I’m a messy gardener, partly because I like to see what plants do. At this time of year, my reward is spectacular structures whose job is to offer seed, broadcast in the breeze or neatly packaged for creatures to take.
The poppies stand mediaeval, all rust and twirl, windows long past their seeds’ flight.
More mid-century modern, the allium, hiding behind sage leaves, has made a mid-century sphere of triple seeds cupped in spiked mounts. And the fennel, late to get going this year, is drying its umbrellas of ridged seeds, harvested here for the kitchen.
All of these have warm tones so drawing them on a day when I had made a pot of coffee and had some left over, I started my colour with a wash of coffee and built it up with liquid and tube watercolour. The line work is ballpen. These are drawn on waste paper, from dummies ordered for print design projects done and delivered.
I’ve been illustrating some bigger habitats for 26 Habitats, a project by writers’ organisation 26 with The Wildlife Trusts. There's a Q&A on my work here.