Sunday, June 12, 2011

Queen of the Night


 9 X 12 Inches

Selenicereus grandiflorus is a night blooming cactus.  Each bloom appears for one night each year.
It blooms at night because the plant must wait until the temperatures reach a certain level for the pollinators to come out. One of the main pollinators is the Spinx Moth.  If the flower is successfully pollinated, the plant will produce a bright scarlet fruit. From what I have read, this fruit is edible. The reference photo was taken in my garden. This plant only produced one bud  this year, and it was unfortunately not pollinated.  I had really wanted to see and taste the fruit.

This is done on rose gray Colourfix Paper. I am using thinner.  I have found that it helps to give the white petals the waxy look they have in  life and smooth the background where I want  no texture. The stamens are quite challenging as there are so many.  This was my main concern before starting.  So far so good.  As I get further down the stamens increase in number and then they will need to be grouped and drawing the negative space will be the secret.  I will keep you posted.

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