Story behind the art of Kelsey Wilson

29th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Illustrators

Red Gems

Allium cepa

Last year I was asked by International Artist Magazine to create a step-by-step watercolor demonstration article, to appear in the July/August issue. What an honor! I had just the project in mind, as I had been planning a large compilation of onions for nearly a year. After attending the annual ASBA Conference in St. Paul last year, I had many new techniques to put to the test. I feel very fortunate to have been able to participate in three workshops that explored layering and mixing color and describing texture in watercolor with drybrush work.

Long before the artwork began, I had dreamt of growing onions of many shapes and colors in my garden. I made tiny drawings in my sketchbook of the idea and scrolled through pages of seed catalogues to see what fun colors and shapes were out there. I planted five varieties of seeds for yellow, white and red onions, purchased from Seed Savers Exchange and Botanical Interests, my favorite seed companies. The resulting white and yellow onions were sad-looking in comparison to the reds. Of the five varieties grown that year, the Italian red of Florence and the Flat of Italy were the two that caught my eye the most.  And only the second bulb from the right grew into the advertised shape. While that might be a reflection of my poor skills as a gardener, it allowed me to focus on the nuances of textures and shades of red. 

After arranging the onions on a table and taking about a hundred photos, I took the onions into the studio and got to work on the drawing and on tweaking the composition. I edited my composition by swapping in leaves from different sections that worked better for the painting, so even though there are only five onions shown, there are actually parts of close to ten onions.

Just like in Marilyn Garber’s white pumpkin painting class, I started by layering individual washes of blue, red and yellow to establish form. This was also the first time I used Mary Dillon’s color palette of transparent primary colors with the addition of permanent rose, mixing everything on one palette. And, as in the milkweed in monochrome class I took with Lara Call Gastinger, I sculpted tiny scuffs, papery wrinkles and dried spots on the bulbs and leaves. I could list many more instructors and artists that have influenced my work and inspired me to hone my skills. We are fortunate to have such generous teachers in ASBA.

Bolting Upright, Watermelon Radish

Raphanus sativus

This painting could also be called “How Not to Grow a Radish”. In my basement I have lights set up so I can grow salad vegetables all winter long. The subject of this painting is a watermelon radish that was planted in a container on the bottom shelf. I have had luck growing smaller radishes there before, but this one must not have had enough room because it flowered, or ‘bolted’. The curve in the flower stalk is where it bent around the shelf and out into the room. 

Since the little plant had channeled its energy into flowering, I thought it wouldn’t have a large enough radish bulb to eat. I was surprised to find that both the flowers and the bulb were very sweet! The cross section is a second radish that had great coloring true to the variety.

To stage a composition, I set the vegetable up on a support ring used for holding beakers. I wanted the radish to appear as it would if we could see under the soil. I took dozens of reference photos the morning I harvested the plant, since I knew the leaves would lose their freshness quickly. I use both my phone camera and a professional camera. The phone is good at snapping quick pictures, while the other is great at capturing textures and the manual settings give me control over the lighting and focus. I rely mainly on my color notes and test swatches in watercolor rather than the colors in the photos.

There were many challenges in this piece. There were tricky details like the texture of the leaves, the dramatic shifts in the greens and the cast shadows on the stalk and leaves. I had to do quite a bit of arranging and editing of the leaves for clarity. It was kind of a wild looking subject, so translating it to a two-dimensional surface was a several day process of drawing and redrawing until it looked right. Even after beginning the painting, I was still tweaking the composition adding and subtracting and shifting leaves into new positions. 

It was a lengthy and enjoyable process. I listened to seven or eight audio books during this painting, including the Fellowship of the Ring. The white flowers will forever remind me of Sam’s devotion to Frodo. The dark undersides of the leaves are linked to an Agatha Christie novel. The bulb and roots are a combination of nonfiction books by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

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