Absorbing Autumn Inspiration
Greetings to you from a world of autumnal hues. During October I spent time visiting family, and took the opportunity to soak up inspiration at a botanical garden filled with changing leaves. The timing couldn’t have been better for me. I have an illustration series planned that heavily features trees and leaves so this visit was ample fuel for that creative fire!
Falling Leaves in a Botanical Garden
When I hear the term botanical garden my mind usually conjures ideas of perfectly arranged flowers and shrubs. Sheffield Botanical Gardens though really lets trees shine in the spotlight. Along the many winding paths you come across trees of all shapes and sizes. Some trees towered above like the large red oak tree and the aptly named giant sequoia. Other trees twisted and curled like the Monterey pine, or were covered in grey squirrels like the edible chestnut tree. Most of the trees we came across were visibly labelled with their common name and Latin name, making identification easy. Which was useful for helping me record any interesting trees I came across that I am unfamiliar with.
A red oak leaf I found on the ground, with the tree trunk in the background (top-right).
I have a soft spot for particular trees, and oak varieties are one of them. They’re comforting to me in a way, and remind me of wandering through the woods as a child. The oaks around where I grew up are much smaller than the red oak pictured above though! Look at the size of those leaves! You could use it as a plate, but I’ll leave that to the squirrels.
The soft shadows in the shade and golden tones in the light brought an extra depth of variety to the autumnal colours. Limited palettes and colour combinations popped into mind as we walked. Reinvigorating my love of mixing colours. Some of my joy is sparked at the desk seeing paints mix and interact, but I also find witnessing colour and light interacting in the world just as exciting.
One of the entrances to Sheffield Botanical Gardens.
We stopped by the café close to one of the entrances for a hot drink. It was lovely autumn weather that day, which included a good cold bite to the air. Carrying around a hot drink certainly helped keep us and our hands warm as we wandered past the trees. It made it a little more interesting recording things we came across with one hand occupied, but we made it work.
Fuelling Creative Inspiration for an Illustration Project
Seeing how all of the colours of trees changed with the season or stood fast against it. How each tree grew in certain ways, producing unique shapes and gestures. All of it kept sparking little embers inside me. I solidly entered into one of those giddy inspiration highs, filled with a mixture of being in awe of what I was noticing and all the ways I wanted to create something myself. Whether that was as simple as sketches of what I was seeing, or diving off into imaginary ideas.
You see, the illustration project that has slowly seeded inside my mind since late summer is all about dryads. They kept showing up in sketches, thumbnails, and in my head in general. Eventually I realised that a series of illustrations was poking at my mind.
As we wandered around, I took everything in with that project in mind. Concepts I was already playing with were joined by new iterations. Different twists on colour palettes or new twists on compositions. Completely new ideas also joined those I have already been considering. Plus I was simply filled with more energy and excitement for the project just by the things I was seeing and experiencing. All things I took home with me.
A pinus radiata tree. Look at those shapes and twists!
Being an artist encompasses so much more than having your hand glued to the drawing board. Time spent away from the desk, even away from pen on paper at all, can offer its own value to the creative experience. It’s something I have known for a while, but these last few months (and days like this in particular) have renewed my appreciation for it all over again.
