The Herb Garden - Basil

Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Basil is a favorite herb both for it's beautiful, fragrant leaves and for it's many uses. It is a symbol of "good wishes" according to the language of plants and flowers of the Victorian era. It grows very well here and is very easy for me to start from seed. You want to plant it in a sunny spot and keep it watered but not soggy. I have grown it in a pot on my kitchen windowsill and it does fairly well. Just enough to give us a taste of summer in the dead of winter. 

I have grown 2 varieties of basil this summer. The Genovese, a sweet basil with a strong aromatic flavor. It's great for using in pesto, that wonderful pasta sauce with olive oil, garlic, chopped walnuts or pine nuts and parmesan cheese. Other summertime treats we enjoy when there is an abundance of basil and tomatoes to be harvested are Caprese salad and Bruschetta. You can find the recipes for these dishes with many variations online and in cookbooks dedicated to cooking with herbs. 

Another basil in the garden this year is Dark Opal. It's a beautiful dark red-violet in color with pink flowers that makes a wonderful herbal vinegar. I love it on a green salad with olive oil and a pinch of salt.

So, that's a little background on why I enjoy this herb so much. A great plant to spend time with and draw. 

(First, I must say, this is really not a complete "step by step", I'm just sharing a few notes on how I came to the finished drawing. Maybe more detailed process posts will be something to think about in the future.)

I decided on a bunch of 3 stalks for the composition - one facing upward, one toward me and one facing away showing the underside of the leaves. I learned a lot about mixing greens in these drawings. Basil was the brightest of the three. First, I started mapping in the shadows with FC (Faber-Castell Polychromos) Permanent green olive. Then impressed some FC Cream in the larger veins to help resist color in these areas.

I applied a layer of FC Earth green yellowish next and then started darkening the shadows with FC Red violet and FC Chrome oxide green. I use these two colors a lot for my dark green shadows. I believe I used small amounts of FC Dark sepia and FC Dark indigo as well.  

I added a bit of FC Light yellow ochre on the tips of a couple of the leaves and highlights to give some variation as my specimen showed. Also a little FC Sky blue added to the backs of the leaves that were turned away from me. 

There were quite a few layers of these colors, as always in my work, and this is the finished piece.

The next herb featured in this series will be Rosemary, the herb for remembrance.

You may visit my Etsy shop if you like for note cards of the 3 herb designs.  

And, the project that started it all, pillows from TheWhiteCottageCo.

The Herb Garden Assortment
2 each of 3 designs

 

The Herb Garden

This past spring I spent an enjoyable couple months working on a project for Mary from TheWhiteCottageCo.  The design she had envisioned was a pillow with 3 herb plants in a row as well as smaller pillows illustrated with each individual herb.  It was so much fun working on this with her. She was so nice to work with.  They turned out great!  It's so gratifying to see my drawings made into something that people can use and enjoy everyday. (You can see the pillows HERE if you like...as well as many other lovely things Mary  has in her shop.)

Another reason I enjoyed this so much is because herbs are one of my favorite things.  From growing them in the herb garden behind our house~

to preserving them by drying, freezing or in herb vinegars and, of course, using them in tasty recipes.  I have many books I go to for inspiration, with well-worn covers torn and pages stained by ingredients used in the herbal recipes within.  Two of my favorites are The Pleasure of Herbs by Phyllis Shaudys and my favorite from the very beginning, Herbs Through the Seasons at Caprilands by Adelma Simmons. 

So, this all got me thinking.  Why don't I do something a little different and combine my love of art, gardening, cooking and herbs and feature each of the plants I had drawn in the next 3 articles? I am by no means an "expert", I just would like to share a little about my drawing process as well as some info on how I grow, preserve and cook with these wonders of nature that give us so much pleasure. 

I hope you will enjoy!