Monday, January 16, 2023

Third Flowering - Wax Amaryllis

It has been interesting trying out the waxed amaryllis where you do nothing but set the bulb in a sunny warm location.   Had it been planted in soil, I suspect it would have produced three flower stalks but with the wax confining the growth, only one stalk made it at a time.  The second stalk was stunted and I didn't think would do anything but it did flower.  The BIGGEST surprise turns out with two buds close to the neck of the opening deciding to flower after I cut off the dead flowers of the second stunted stalk.  The leaves of the amaryllis really never grew but I figure it was due to being crowded.  My only disappointment with these are the fact the flowers fade so quickly compared to those planted in the ground.  Maybe they are a different variety that wouldn't last even in soil?  No idea.

I decided to sketch how the one bud was opening early morning and then by afternoon, it had opened more that I wanted to capture.  It's fascinating to me as I watch day by day the changes flowering plants go through in such a short time.

Procreate:  2B pencil for coloring (no black and white this time) and gouache brush tool for blending.  Worked each component on separate layers which paid off with the growth change within hours.  I was able to make the changes/additions and still keep the rest of the plant as already sketched.  I was able to just focus on the one flower and the subtle change to the other bud next to it.




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