Flora in Sweden have recently re-designed their packaging.  And I’m more than excited to say that the new margarine tubs and associated products feature my illustrations of White and Red clover!

The new designs have been done by Pond Design for Unilever, and I think they look really good.  There’s a range of products on offer.  Margarine spreads, and some mysterious bottled products which, alas, my Swedish isn’t up to translating.

Pond design have tweaked the original illustrations very cleverly, and I’m very impressed by the way they’ve used the different elements to decorate the surfaces of the Flora margarine tub.

Red and White Clover original illustrations

What makes this whole job even more marvellous is that I didn’t need to pick up a paint brush!  The two clover species had already been completed a year earlier for the Field Studies Council and were used on fold out identification charts.  In fact, both have been framed and the White clover Trifolium repens original has been sold.  (The red clover Trifolium pratense is still available for sale).

So when I was approached by Pond Design, we were already discussing re-licensing fees rather than creating original illustrations.  This re-licensing can be tricky, and the Assocation of Illustrators were very helpful in figuring out the correct agreement and budget.

Flora Margarine products

I was intrigued to see the layout documents showing the design specs as well as the finished article.  I’ve not seen these up close before, and the detail and attention to minutiae that go into making the designs fit the container perfectly is impressive.

Here are the side and top views of the Flora margarine tubs.  The white clover contains normal salt, whilst the red clover is extra salty.  With the two products are next to each other, you can see that both feature leaves from both species of plant; it’s just the flowering heads that have been swapped out.

The other products are, according to Google translate, “Vegan alternatives to Cream”.   Translating “Visp” and “Mat” was harder for Google, although I think the translation of “whipped” and “food” refer to one being whipped cream and the other one a spread?

The last set of products are a mystery.  I believe they are for the Finnish market, not the Swedish one.  The Google translation is  “Food black beans” and “Whisked beans”.  I’m guessing someone with a good grasp of Finnish would give a clearer explanation!  Suffice to say I think they’re vegan alternatives to dairy products.

Subsequent to writing this blog, Siru Curzon ( a Finnish reader of my blog) read my blog and explained that these are Finnish whipped cream products.  They come in different flavours (such as garlic, or fish spices) and are used both as additions to a meal, and in cookery.

Siru also clarified that this particular whipped cream is made from beans, so Google translate wasn’t far off after all!  Many thanks to Siru.

Hanging onto copyright

I have always been a stickler for hanging onto the copyright of my illustrations.  This was drilled into me over the years at various seminars conducted by the endlessly wonderful Association of Illustrators.

I’ve turned down numerous jobs which demanded my copyright.  I spend long hours poring over the fine print of contracts making sure everything is as it should be.  Ah me, it’s not all glamour and painting when you’re an illustrator!

This job was lucrative, swiftly conducted, and I love how they’ve used my work.  All those times I’ve wondered if I was simply being stubborn for refusing to concede my copyright seem to fall away.  Vindication is sweet.

Copyright – when to sell it

I suppose my main reason for posting this isn’t to gloat.  It is to emphasize how vital is is for illustrators to fight copyright grabs and hang onto their copyright as much as possible.  Yes you may have to turn down work which other illustrators will pick up.  Sometimes a job comes along which pays so well that selling copyright is acceptable.  Logos and very high profile ad campaigns come to mind.  There are a couple of clients who demand copyright as they’re legally obliged to.  Stamp and bank note or money designers always ask for universal copyright.  If you kept your copyright in these cases you’d literally be in a position to print your own money!

Conslusion

However, in most cases, don’t do it!  Educate your clients, many have no idea what financial implications selling their  copyright means to a creator.  Hang onto your copyright.  Ask for adjustments to a contract.  Accept that you lose some jobs.  Join the AOI and ask them to help you negotiate contract law.  Work with them to fight the insidious creeping nastiness that is copyright grabs.

The rewards for winning this fight are clear.  I have an online library of over 2000 completed illustrations that I have universal copyright on.  This means I can earn money for licensing these just by writing a contract and sending a scan across the internet.  About half my annual takings are from this re-use library.  And there’s no reason on earth why the same thing couldn’t be happening for the majority of illustrators around the world.

For a step by step guide to how I went about completing my botanical illustration of the Red clover, have a look at my earlier blog.

The post Flora Margarine in Sweden appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Sleeping Bear Honey Farm in the USA have commissioned me before to produce artwork for their honey labels, botanical illustrations of the Orange blossom and of the Tupelo (click here for a blog on the steps involved in producing these).  This time they wanted something a little different, a landscape.

Sweet orange Citrus sinensis artwork for another Sleeping Bear honey label

Drawing up the pencil rough of the label

The brief was to produce an idealised scene of a wild flower meadow.  This was to be full of bees with beehives (or skeps), and some honey dripping out.  It was to reference the Florida pan handle where this particular honey is made.

After getting the reference together and finding out what flowers grew in the Florida pan handle and what the area looked like, I got out my trusty mechanical pencil (a Pentel P205) and drew up the landscape.  I made sure there were plenty of flowers, plenty of bees, and that the skeps were the sort favoured by my client.

Background

First up is a very pale background wash; this layer is water with a tiny bit of pigment.  Sap green and yellow ochre for the foreground, ceruelean for the sky.  I cover the entire page, except for the foreground images which I leave white.  This means there’ll be the impression of background, except for the bees and skeps which will have sharper contrasts between their lights and darks and will therefore be the focus.  The background wash at the front of the painting is brighter and more intense, this makes this area seem closer to the viewer.

Landscape with background wash

Working into the background greens

Next I work into the greens.  This takes ages, and I mix several green colours.  These become bolder and yellower as we approach the foreground.  It needs to give the impression of healthy distant foliage.  I build this effect with lots of dabbing, and little rough brush strokes.  As ever, I use Winsor and Newton brushes, Series 7(no. 1 size).

The leaves in the foreground are untouched.  I’ll paint these individually later on.

Distant greens

Here’s a close up to see how the colour and texture is built up.

Close up of foliage effect

Adding the distant flowers

Getting the flowers in comes next.  Again, it’s time consuming, but I use yellows to build up the effect of lots of blossoms filling the field.  More contrast, detail and intensity in the foreground helps give a suggestion of distance and depth.

Plotting in the distant yellow flowers

You can see here how I paint in an outline of each flower in yellow then pop a brighter tint of a paler yellow on top.

Putting a bright yellow wet tint on the flower petals

Next, I repeat the process for the pink flowers; details in a darker shade of crimson and the top wash just a watery tint of this.

Painting in the pink flowers

Foreground vegetation

Now to focus on the foreground.  I get a bit bored of leaves sometimes, so tend to paint these in first, leaving the detail of the flowers as a treat for later.  Bolder and brighter hues of green are used here, with suggestions of shadow and venation which were omitted for the more distant plants.

Foreground leaves are painted in

Illustrating the flowers in the foreground

Onto the yellow foreground flowers.  these need to be bright, but also have contrast.  Using more detail than before, I repeat the process of painting in the structure and detail of each flower petal, then popping a bright paler yellow wash on top.  At this stage I’ll leave some whites as highlights, only covereing them with a very pale yellow wash once the rest of each flower is dry.  This helps give tonality.

Painting in the yellow flowers in the foreground

Here’s a detail of the process in action:

Next, I’ll paint in all the Rudbeckia flowers.  These are quite fun, yellows and reds.  I use the same technique as before; detail then a top wash.  I leave the centre of the flowers white for now; both the yellow and these blloms have similar centres so I’ll blitz them all at once after the petals are completed.

More foreground flowers are painted in

I take on the central discs of the Compositae; they’re a tawny gold colour.  A bit of texturing on the bottom right hand side stops them from looking flat.

Painting the pink flowers

Pink flowers!  I use winsor and newton watercolours.  But for these pink flowers I rely on a tint.  A tint is a watered down and paler version of a colour.  Doctor Martin’s Hydrus watercolor ink 5A Quinacridone magenta is the ideal candidate.  By itself it looks atificial and too bright.  But when ,ixed with a touch of crimson it’s perfect.  The intensity of these inks is unmatched.  They’re fade-resistant too; I use them a lot to add a kick to my colours.

Below is a detail that shows how some areas of the petals are left white.  You can clearly see the pencil lines.  Luckily these rub out despite the watercolour on top of them.  You can also see that I’ve revisited the yellow flowers.  I used a darker orange to give a little more shadow and definition.

Close up of the foreground flowers

Illustrating the beehives supports…and the bees

I paint the wooden supports that the bee hives are perched on.  This mix is mainly ochres with slightly darker brown lines to suggest wood.   Next I apply myself to the main bee in the illustration.  This has to be right or the whole painting will look silly.  I work from dead specimens and take a long time trying to ensure the bee is fluffy, and has the correct colouration.

Bee and hive supports completed

Here’s a detail of the bee.  To be honest I’m not entirely satisfied with him, he’s too dull and overworked.  He’s passable though, which is lucky as it means I won’t have to start all over again.

Close up of the worker bee

Painting the skeps or beehives

Skeps next.  These are a sort of straw gold, so I use yellows, ochres, and naples yellow.  Painting in the texture of these hives is rather soothing and I enjoy myself.  Painting in the remaining bees is mroe exacting, and require a tiny brush (a No.000) and me holding my breath as I do the tinier details.  Again, the bees aren’t magnificent, but they’re good enough.

Skeps and distant bees complete, working into the texture of the skep in the foreground.

Here’s a detail of the skeps and the bees; because the bees are distant and so small (think how tiny they’ll be when reproduced on the honey label!) they can be less intensley detailed than the main one:

Detail

Adding the dripping honey

We’re getting close to finishing now.  The main skep needs completing, which is easy in comaprison to the bees and the detail on the flowers and leaves.  Once that’s done it’ll just be the dripping honey.  This has to glow.  Then it’s just the remaining foreground bees.

The reason I’ve left these elements until last is that this illustration is almost layered.  You can only move onto each element as the steps involved is sorting out the background get completed.  The main skep goes in.  Once it’s there I’ve got a background for the flying bees and dripping honey.

Detail showing the texturing of the straw of the skep

Honey!  Distant honeycomb within the skep is painted in dark reds and golds (I’ll add the details of the comb structure once the yeloows have dried), and then I paint the  river of honey pouring out.  (I am aware this is fictional, no self respecting bee would allow such a waste of such a precious resource!)  Making the honey shiny just means ensuring there’s a smooth transition from dark gold to white, and ensuring the white of the page is left to suggest the glinting highlights.

The honey is added

Adding the foreground bees

The final step is the remaining three bees, and any tweaking or addition of shadows to add depth.  Again, I use a smaller brush on the bees and take my time.  They end up a little more convincing than the one we see in side view, but I think the take home message is probably that I need to do more practice when it comes to painting honey bees!

Final honey label with flying bees and honeycomb texture added.

I submitted the artwork and the client seemed really pleased, which is always a relief and a treat.  He also sent me a massive box of absolutely lovely honey and honey products along with my remittance – I wish all my clients were so generous!

Illustrations and honey gifts from Sleeping Bear Farms

The post Illustrating a Honey Label appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

Neither plant grows wild here in the UK, and there was quite a tight deadline so I needed to work from other illustrations and photos.  For more on how I go about doing this, please check out my blog.

Pencil roughs

First step is to complete the pencil roughs.  I worked with a mechanical P205 Pentel pencil, and I’m currently working on Stonehenge Aqua Hot Press watercolour paper.

Pencil rough of the Tupelo Nyssa ogeche

It’s important to think about composition as well as including all the elements of the plant, especially as the illustration is going to be reduced massively.  It needs to read clearly as a big illustration or as a tiny picture.

Pencil Rough of Sweet orange Citrus sinensis

Next, the client (Sleeping Bear Farms) had to approve the roughs (which they did very fast and with no alterations.  This, by the way, is the dream scenario; if you have live plant material it’ll still be fine to work from when you get the paint-box opened, and even if you’re working from other reference it’s lovely as all the learning and observation is still fresh in your mind).

Painting the leaves: Step 1

I use the same process of painting for both illustrations, so will discuss them alongside each other.  However, it goes without saying that I will work on one plant to completion and then start the next one.

For more of my botanical illustration step by steps, please click on the link.

First, I plot in the darkest greens on the leaves.  I do the leaves first as I find them less thrilling than the flowers, and harder to successfully illustrate.  I always start with my darkest darks, which is an unusual approach for watercolour artists, but it seems to work ok.

Tupelo with darkest greens plotted in

The Tupelo green is quite a bright and yellowish green.  I mixed this from Sap green, Yellow ochre, Cobalt blue, Vandyke brown, and quite a lot of Cadmium yellow pale.  My paints are in pans.  I favour Winsor and Newton and Daler Rowney.

I build up these areas with lots of little brush strokes, making sure the edges of the areas aren’t too stark.  The only brushes I properly love are Winsor and Newton Series 7.  They’re pricey, but this is because they’re pure sable, and hold their tip like no other brush I’ve tried.  I use a tiny 000 for detail and a number 1 for most of my illustration work.  A larger no 2 is good for bigger areas.  Every 6 weeks or so I need to buy a new number 1 brush as I wear through the bristles, but they are the best available and are reliably excellent.

The Sweet orange had darker glossier leaves, so the green is bluer and darker, and it’s important to be more aware of the light areas of highlight; if they get swamped with colour then there’s no way you can make the leaves glossy.

The green for the darks on the Sweet orange is a mix of Sap green, Vandyke brown, Yellow ochre, Winsor violet, Winsor blue and Cadmium yellow pale.

Sweet orange with the darks plotted in

Painting the leaves: Step 2

Next step is to paint the mid-tones on the leaves, and to take the sharp edges off the areas of shadow.  These greens are the same mixes as before but slightly diluted with water, and with a little more Cadmium yellow light mixed in.  With the Tupelo, the younger leaves are noticeably brighter and yellower than the older larger leaves, so the colour mixing reflects this.

Mid tones of the Tupelo tree added

I also start putting colour onto the underside of the leaves at this stage.  In the Sweet orange these are a blueish chalky colour.  I use Cobalt green, Cobalt blue and a touch of Permanent mauve for this mix.

Plotting mid tones on the Sweet orange

Painting the leaves: Step 3

The next step is to put a yellowish pale layer of colour on top of the detail already painted.  It’s important to allow the paint to dry between these stages or detail will get blurred and lost.  Generally I mix a new yellowish green for this.  I use plenty of Cadmium yellow pale and Yellow ochre to get the yellows bright, but true to nature.

I paint in the stems and twigs at this point too.  Here the Tupelo twig is a mix of Vandyke brown, Sap green, and Winsor violet.  Darker areas are bumped up with a bit more Winsor blue.

Highlights and woody areas of the Tupelo finished.  Beginnings of flowers being worked on.

It’s vital to keep an eye on your highlights, which need to be left as plain white paper.  The trick is to leave the paper clear of paint.  Make a smooth transition from the green to the white areas.  I do this by using tiny brushstrokes with a pale yellow green, and by blotting with tissue paper.

Working into the lighter areas of the Sweet orange leaves

Painting the leaves: Step 4

Next it’s time to work into the shadows on the leaves.  I pick out these dark areas with a properly dark paint; Vandyke brown and Winsor blue, often with a touch of Winsor violet.  I use this paint quite dry, and lay it down in tiny brushstrokes.  This layer of colour gives definition and crispness as well as tonality to the image.

Step 5: painting fruit and flowers

I get on with fruit and flowers at this point too.  Sorting out the anatomy of the Tupelo flower without a specimen in front of me was a real challenge, especially when it came to deciding what parts of the blossom were what colour.  They’re a bright yellow green, so I used Cobalt green with Winsor lemon as there’s a softness to the shade which I wouldn’t get from Sap green.

Adding the final details to the flowers and the fruit of the Tupelo

The Sweet orange has a similar treatment of leaves, then there’s the challenge of painting the white flowers.  Painting white flowers is tricky as you need definition but also need to ensure the petals look crisp and clean.  You can leave defining pencil line, ensure the flower has colour behind it, or use a pale watercolour mix to pick out detail.  For more on painting white flowers have a look at my blog.

The Sweet orange has clusters of these flowers, so I used a pale Cerulean blue to get some details in.  I’ve tried using Cobalt turquoise before, but somehow it’s too bright.  I then mixed up a darker blue to pick out some tiny areas of darker blue.  The buds are really quite yellowish, so I used a different colour for these.

Illustrating the white blossoms of the Sweet orange

The Tupelo is nearly done now.  It needs just a little more orange on the fruit (being sure to keep the highlighted areas as white paper) and a few more tweaks with the very dark blue paint mix.

Tupelo Nyssa ogeche final illustration

Step 6: Painting the oranges

The biggest challenge of the Sweet orange remains, the oranges!  They’re actually even larger in comparison to the flowers and leaves than I’ve drawn.  However, I used artistic license as I didn’t want the fruits (or colour) to swamp the whole image.

I finish off the leaves.  The dark shadows are dealt with and I make the edges between leaves crisp.  I also pop in the stamens on the flowers before starting on the oranges.  I start on these with an orange mid tone, and apply the paint with a spotty paint stroke. A mix of Cadmium orange, Cadmium red, and a touch of Winsor violet seems to work.

Starting work on the oranges

Unfortunately, when I find an area of a painting challenging or enthralling (in this case the oranges were really difficult), I forget to stop to take progress pictures, so the next Sweet orange image is the final piece!

Working into the oranges, I first picked out the darkest areas of shadow, again favouring little spotty strokes to echo the texture of the fruit.  The darks need to be redder and browner than the rest of the orange, so I mixed in Vandyke brown and some Alizarin crimson, along with a touch of Hookers green (so the hue echoes something of the leaves).

Lastly, I mix a really pale orange wash, in this case it’s Indian yellow with a tiny bit of Cadmium orange.  Again, leaving the white areas as highlight is vital, and adding a bit of texture to these areas makes the oranges a bit more realistic.

Final illustration of the Sweet orange Citrus sinensis

So there we are, both illustrations completed!  The client seemed dead pleased with them, which was really lovely.  Now I just have to wait to see them on the honey labels!

The post Step by Step illustration of Tupelo & Sweet orange appeared first on Lizzie Harper.