Learning from a Master | An Artist's Life

It's a beautiful day in the art studio, and we are ready to start this master study. Except, not quite, because I got a new palette. I mentioned this a couple of videos ago, but I actually got it specifically for this piece. I wanted something with some separation, and it's a cool palette because it has two different side options. Redoutier was a botanical illustrator in the 18th century, and he's known as one of the greatest botanical illustrators of all time. Apparently he had a quite fabulous and lavish life and served as the royal painter for three French empresses, Marie Antoinette, Josephine Bonaparte, and Marie Amélie. Their patronage is what funded many of his ambitious works that he's known for today, including this particular rose, which is part of his large rose volume, 169 plates from Empress Josephine's gardens. A lot of Redoutier's aesthetic decisions were defined by the botanical illustration conventions of the day. So not only were these beautiful, but they also had a scientific purpose. And there are a number of them, including scale, the white background choice, the way the flower is depicted, the leaves, the buds, all of these things. But within this world of quite strict conventions, his work really stood out because he had this subtlety that apparently almost made his work glow. And from what we know, he achieved this from layers upon layers of transparent washes. Since I am a little bit obsessed with materials right now and discovering how different papers work and things like that, I was interested to find out that Redoutier used both paper and vellum. I would love to try a couple of these botanicals on vellum at some point. Has anyone ever tried this? I feel like you don't hear about it that much these days, but I think it was quite common. Another interesting facet about Redoutier is that he was a teacher as well, and he had this lovely illustration studio where he taught a number of women, which was not as common in those days. And apparently he was just a really charming and lovely and friendly guy. So knowing all of this, I thoroughly enjoyed working on this master study with Redoutier in the studio for these handful of days. This one took me probably about eight hours. It's hard to say exactly, although I suppose I could look through the footage to say exactly. I broke up the stages into days because that is the best way that I paint. I've mentioned focus a number of times in this video, and I'm realizing what the best times of day are for me to have deep focus, how long that deep focus is able to last, and what the balance of different activities that I need throughout my day, from exercise to socializing to getting out to staying in, are to where I can have this sort of sweet focus period, but not overemphasize it or try to push it too long because my brain actually likes to do multiple things. And as I get older, I am learning to not only accept that, but truly appreciate it. I hope that you enjoyed these handful of afternoons painting this rose with me. And if you are inspired to try any of your own roses or other flowers that he did, I would love to see them and wishing you a wonderfully creative week.