76. Newsletter, July

-

                       


A stunning wildflower, Michigan Lily,  Lilium michiganense, with Meadow Fritillary

Painted in watercolor by ©Heeyoung Kim


Lilies and Butterflies:

Next Zoom Workshop for Intermediate Level

While woodland understory plants being dormant in summer, edges and areas with open canopy are filled with colorful wildflowers. When you turn your eyes to wet areas with full or half sunlight, you might see striking orange lilies with dark markings. 

There are several native lilies in similar shape and color in the USA such as Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense), Turk’s Cap Lily (L. superbum), , Canada Lily (L. canadense), Humboldt’s Lily (L. humboldtii), Tiger Lily (L. pardalimun) and many more. Among them, Wood Lily (L. philadelphicum) is uniquely shaped with upright flower face and straight tepals, while most other lilies face down with curled tepals. Of course, there are many native lily species around the world. California Native Plant Society website is showing 23 native lilies in California. https://calscape.org/loc-california/Lilium(all)/vw-list/np-0?

We often see cultivar lilies in gardens, but there are plenty of absolutely gorgeous native lilies that you might want to plant. 😉🤗 For example, a Michigan Lily in bloom becomes a showstopper with its majestic beauty. It is so precious that I have never cut a flower to draw and paint. I just can’t hurt it …. Then, how did I draw and paint it several times? Well, I was almost eaten up by mosquitos in hot and humid summer days in the wood even with a mosquito net and spray. 

I am so glad to have a Zoom workshop with this lily, and a butterfly. It will start this Saturday, July 15th. More info, visit my website, www.heeyoungkim.net 


Watercolor for Beginners - Zoom Workshop

After this course was run in January, the feedback from the course attendees was so wonderful and made my heart singing. Then the words were spread …. Isn’t it the best promotion for any business? 😀 Gratefully, I decided to rerun it, because there have been many inquiries about the same course. 

In this series of Watercolor for Beginners course, students will learn about the very basic yet fundamental skills in handling watercolor materials and painting techniques. Besides these basics, students will learn the process of selecting a subject and setting it up with a good environment. 

Schedule: All classes in this course: 3 pm - 6 pm, Central Time.

  • Course 1: Fundamentals of watercolor painting. Aug 12, 19, 26.

  • Course 2: Furthering painting experiences with flowers. Sep 16, 23, 30

  • Course 3: Leaves with linear and net veins. Oct 28, Nov 4, 11

More information: https://www.heeyoungkim.net/class-listing



This is met demo pieces for the watercolor for beginners course. There were more, of course. 



Advanced Watercolor: Botanicals in Ecological Context

Nature’s Bird Feeder 2: Red Flowers and Hummingbirds

The theme “Nature’s Bird Feeder” will continue in mid summer. The image below is my work in progress. It’s all about insects that birds can feed on. Birds don’t just eat berries and seeds, or nuts from bird feeders offered by kind humans. Studies show that 96% of birds feed their young insects, especially caterpillars. What I want to show throughout this series of projects is the sustainable environment where native plants provide shelters and foods to the insects. 

The next subject will be Red Flowers and Hummingbirds. I will choose Cardinal Flower and Jewelweed as plant subjects, and Ruby-throated hummingbird and a few moths added to the hosting plants. If you are interested in joining this ongoing Tuesday Advanced Watercolor Zoom workshop, contact me, please! 

  • Next class schedule: August 1, 8, 22, 29, 10 am - 1 pm, CT. 

Registration at www.heeyoungkim.net 


Here is my demo piece. This shows a middle part of the full painting.




What’s on the Easel

I have several milkweed and monarch paintings in the drawer. Some are already finished, others are almost there or just started….. 

When I see milkweeds starting to bloom with monarch butterflies and quite a few other insects swarming around, I take out all the works in progress and start to work on them. Often I feel like I am migrating with the monarchs. When they migrate back to the south, my paintings are stored in the drawer. And they come out to be painted, when the pretty butterflies come back. I hope you will enjoy the beauty of these wonderful symbiosis between milkweeds and monarchs.

Respectfully, 

Heeyoung, July 13th, 2023


Whorled Milkweed and Monarch, watercolor work in progress, ©Heeyoung Kim 2023


All blog contents are copyrighted. No unauthorized usages are allowed. ©Heeyoung Kim 2023

             For questions or inquiries, contact Heeyoung Kim via her website: www.heeyoungkim.net 

Popular posts from this blog

71. 7th Annual Enriching Life

-
Image
Botanical Art Exhibition, Heeyoung Kim & Brushwood Botanical Artists Here we are! The 7th, already! Botanical Art Exhibition: Heeyoung Kim & Brushwood Botanical Artists 2021 was a remarkable year in many ways. Getting to the final phase of the Covid pandemic (hopefully), we have been cultivating various life styles that suit to our routines as artists fairly successfully. Teaching and learning have been well adapted to the changes, so much so some of us don't even want to go back to physically crowded in-person classes any more.  Surely there are irreplaceable merits in in-person teaching environments, but the merits of remote ones are also too attractive to give up, which gave me no choice but to embrace both.   The annual exhibit is also presented both physically and virtually this year. The Brushwood Center website, www.brushwoodcenter.org features 20 participating artists, and its gallery showcases selected artists' works. Former students of Heeyoung Kim were invi...
Read more

Paintings & Stories: 1. You think you are done! Well, too early?

-
Image
                                   Study of Ohio Spiderwort - C Heeyoung Kim 2012 "Start From Finish"  is my experimental watercolor botanical workshop at Chicago Botanic Garden. My idea started from the fact that students can hardly have a chance to see somebody doing final touch. The result: most students think they are done, too early. Students brought in their 'finished painting'(?) to the workshop and tried to improve them. However, the hardest part was critique. We did open critique, but I could see some were not quite open to it. I could gradually convince everyone to see the room to be improved in their paintings. Every week all of us get happier and happier seeing the possibility that we actually can improve our works. The image above is a sample painting of mine. I showed how I could make the middle part of the flower darker and make the details of pistil and stamens pop out...
Read more