STORY BEHIND THE ART OF JEANNETTA VANRAALTE

18th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists at The Horticultural Society of New York

Sunflower Arising

Helianthus annuus

In early 2014, I committed myself to paint Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus) for a 2015 New England Society of Botanical Artists exhibit. My husband ordered white Jerusalem artichoke tubers from one source and red tubers from another, but instead of red tubers, we received ordinary sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seeds. We planted both the tubers and the seeds in large tubs in the garden at the back of our house in Brooklyn. Both plantings flourished and one particularly large sunflower started to develop. My husband took photos of this sunflower at various stages, including the stage at which all the yellow “petals” (actually “ray flowers”) are seen folded over each other, the stage when only one ray flower is unfolding, and the stage with the ray flowers in various degrees of opening, exposing the tiny yellow central disk flowers. I did sketches of many stages, but this last one struck me as something I just had to paint.

I used a combination of Winsor & Newton gouache and watercolor on 300 lb hot-press Fabriano Artistico paper. When I have an ever-changing subject such as this, I make a sketch from life and have my husband photograph the subject from the same angle – a full view and several close-ups – so that I can freeze the subject in time and have a lasting image to paint from.

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Read more about this artist's work: Weird, Wild and Wonderful