Dock Flower-head

Friday, 13th June 2003, West Yorkshire

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I've got various chores to do but I'm determined that, whatever happens, I should get out and do a drawing today.

Once again it's the unfurling flower-heads of broad-leaved dock that have got me hooked. There are loads of things that I could be drawing or painting at this time of year but I think that sometimes it's good to draw the same subject again and again.

I feel that I'm doing soemthing more than just recording the botanical details of the dock: drawing repeatedly is not just a way of looking carefully at the plant and taking in its individual character, it also hleps you experience the processes of growth, unfolding and transformation - processes which can also be seen and experienced in seascapes, landscapes and in our own lives.

I feel that I've got a long way to go with these drawings; I seem to be fudging and fumbling with the drawing, especially when the breeze is buffeting the leaves about, but I also feel that every drawing I do must be helping me to improve my abilities to enable the character of the individual plant come through.

richard@willowisland.co.uk