Mock up of a green tee-shirt on a green background. The shirt features an all-white drawing of a prickly pear cactus within a simple rectangular white frame.
Presented here is a collection of illustrations made using Procreate on an iPad. I do not typically participate in challenges, but I had been thinking about making a series of works on native plants, so when California Native Plant Society presented their art challenge it seemed like a perfect opportunity. The challenge itself was that every day for two weeks each person would create a work of art inspired by California native plants. ​​​​​​​
A rectangular image split down the middle with a gold bar. The left side of the image features the headline "Sketches" which is set on top of a photograph of a sketchbook page. The page shows various plant sketches and a list of potential subjects. On the right side of the rectangle is a photograph taken by the artist of a hiking trail in the Los Angeles Forest.
As I had never really done a challenge before this I decided the best way to handle it was to do all the planning ahead of time. I developed the visual style, selected the colors, and made a list of plants I was interested in drawing with a second list of alternates in case I got stuck or simply was not feeling what was on my list. This ended up working out very well because a few days into this I came down with the worst cold of my life that lasted for the remainder of the two-week project and then some. Needless to say I was very grateful for my pre-planning and decision to keep these simple.
A rectangular image split down the middle with a gold bar to create two square spaces. On the left is a photograph taken by the artist of a hiking trail in the Los Angeles Forest. On the right is the header that reads "Color Palette" and below it are ten squares set in a grid showing the different colors used for the project.
What was extra special about this project was that while working on it, I was preparing to move to a small town in the foothills of Los Angeles. One of the main reasons why we wanted to move there was because of the abundant hiking trails, so using the CNPS's plant search tool I was able to explore my new neighborhood and learn about who lived there before getting to meet all these new floral friends a month later. The focus for this project narrowed down from California native plants to native plants of The Angeles Forest to native plants that are along a specific trail (which is featured in the photos here).
A rectangular image split down the middle with a gold bar. On the left side is a mock up of a tote bag sitting on a green surface. The tote bag features an illustration for white sage which is done in green with a green rectangular frame around it. On the right side of the image are the first four illustrations set in a square grid. The images are square and feature a solid color background with some texture and an off white illustration of a particular plant. Here there is white sage, california juniper, eastwood manzanita, and coastal prickly pear.
A rectangular image split down the middle with a gold bar. On the left side of the image are four illustrations set in a square grid. The images are square and feature a solid color background with some texture and an off white illustration of a particular plant. Here there is pacific aster, hairy yerba santa, bigcone douglas fir, hollyleaf redberry. On the right side of the rectangle is a mock up of a greeting card featuring the illustration of the hollyleaf redberry sitting on top of an envelope with a pencil next to it. All are sitting on a reddish surface.
A rectangular image split down the middle with a gold bar. On the left side is a photograph of an open spread of the California Native Plant Society's magazine, Flora, which features selected works from people who participated in the challenge. The artist's image of a spotted humboldt's lily is shown on the second page. On the right side of the image are the first four illustrations set in a square grid. The images are square and feature a solid color background with some texture and an off white illustration of a particular plant. Here there is spotted humboldt's lily, giant wildrye, birdfoot cliffbrake, and mock orange.
I have turned two of the drawings into a few shirts for family and a couple of one-off greeting cards. My eventual plan is to work with a local printer who focuses on environmentally friendly printing practices and make a greeting card pack featuring four images. One exciting part of this whole experience was having the Spotted Humboldt's Lily drawing featured in CNPS's quarterly magazine Flora, they even sent over an extra copy for my grandma. 
A rectangular image split down the middle with a gold bar. On the left side of the image are four illustrations set in a square grid. The images are square and feature a solid color background with some texture and an off white illustration of a particular plant. Here there is interior live oak, whispering bells, mock orange (alternative) and flatbud prickly poppy. On the right side of the image is a photograph of a hiking trail in the Los Angeles Forest taken by the artist.
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