The Herb Garden - Rosemary

 

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)

Rosemary is an herb I have grown for many years. I love the way it looks and its piney, woodsy, minty scent. Great for sprinkling on a beef roast as it cooks. I've tried to overwinter rosemary plants in the garden but we just don't have the right climate for them to survive. So, I pot them up and put them in a sunny window in the basement where it's cool. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but it is very much worth the try. Rosemary has pretty little blue flowers that might make an appearance on an older plant. I have one that I've kept for several years. Maybe this year she will bloom!

Rosemary in my garden

For this drawing I used 2 different plants for my models. My potted plant which had sprouted new growth over the winter and I was happy to also find a plant in the early spring offerings at the local greenhouse. This was important to get the color just right. Always better with a live specimen. 

I start with color notes and sketches then move on to the life size compositional drawing. I use tracing paper for this because it is easy to erase. This eliminates the possibility of damaging the good paper as I work things out.

I sometimes tape the sketch onto an outside window to transfer/trace to my good paper over top. This time I used Strathmore 500 plate 4-ply. I had used this paper for another project and really liked it. It worked well for printing the images and I was able to build up multiple layers of colored pencil which doesn't always work with a smooth paper. 

When it was time to start adding color I referred to my color notes I had made in the beginning of this process. While the basil was more of a bright green and the sage leaned toward bluish green, the rosemary was sort of a mix between the two. The colored pencils I used most were - Earth green yellowish, Permanent green olive, Juniper green and Pine green. For the shadow areas I used Chrome oxide green, Red-Violet and a little Cold grey VI. On the undersides of the leaves I added a bit of Sky blue and Ivory for burnishing. All of these colors were Faber Castell Polychromos.

As usual, I really enjoyed getting to know this plant. There is so much we miss because we don't take time to really look.

 

I hope you are enjoying this series! The third and last article will feature the Sage drawing. 

You can find my artwork at ~ TwigsAndPetals