Creating a Painting, Dendrobium convolutum - Part 1.

Dianne Sutherland
1 day ago
5 min read

Observation, Measured Drawing and the Study Page

The Plant

The first step in beginning a new painting is always selecting a suitable subject. I hoped to paint something new for the ASBA exhibition “Orchids: Jewels of the Plant World”, but only if I could find a specimen worth portraying. The call for entries has been open for quite some time, yet the deadline, 11 September 2026, was drawing close, and I still hadn’t found the right plant.

Earlier in the year, I purchased several orchid species from UK grower Kev’s Orchids (www.kevsorchids.co.uk), including Dendrobium convolutum, I chose plants that I hoped might be mature enough to flower. Unfortunately, none of them looked likely to bloom in time although one plant had a single small bud emerging. I resigned myself to the idea that I would paint the orchid eventually, but probably not for this exhibition.

To encourage flowering, I set up controlled conditions using a Plant Gro Lamp on a timer, along with careful humidity and watering adjustments. To my surprise, Dendrobium convolutum produced its first flower in early July. The problem was that this young plant produced only a single bloom. My research and confirmed that mature plants typically produce a spike with two to four flowers.

Fortunately, over the past few weeks more flower spikes have emerged, and one already carries two buds. Suddenly, the challenge is back on, and I’m working to complete the painting in time for the exhibition.

As always, I cross‑check the plant name with the Kew database, Plants of the World Online, to ensure correct identification: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:627163-1

The first D. convolutum flower bloomed July 6th 2026
Creating the right conditions for blooming

Research and Study Pages

I always begin my plant study with initial observations: written notes, plenty of photographs ans measured drawings. While waiting for the flowers to develop, I decided to make drawings of the whole plant-its canes (the stem like structure which are actually pseudobulbs), also the leaves and the new bud stems. It’s a good use of time, and in this case the structure is simple enough that it will fit comfortably on an A3 sheet.

I also still had the one flower to work from. Orchid flowers usually last a long time though; this one bloomed for six weeks, from 6 July to 18 August. I photographed it from multiple angles and made sketches before removing the flower to create more detailed studies. Keeping a record of flowering dates is always helpful for future reference and for botanical documentation. I will also preserve the flower as reference, this means it will lose the colour but should be ok to work from as a wet specimen, should I need it.

Drawing Begins

For the initial studies and measured drawings, I chose to work in a Pith Sketchbook (35 × 22 cm), which provides a generous double‑page spread of 35 × 44 cm in landscape format. This gave me enough space to record the plant’s height, cane structure, and leaf arrangement clearly.

Study pages can be completed on loose watercolour paper or in sketchbooks, but if the study is intended to support a final graphite tonal drawing, I recommend using the same paper for both the study and the finished work. Graphite behaves very differently depending on the surface, and using matching paper ensures that the tonal outcome, texture and level of detail will be consistent. I will be making a watercolour painting so I don't need to worry too much about the paper at this stage.

Below are images and a video of the initial process. I don’t always draw the entire plant structure on a study page, but with this species it made sense to do so because its proportions are straightforward, and it serves as excellent preparation for the final painting.

Flower studies in line then tone were made first, as the flowers are generally the shortest‑lived part of any plant - even though in this case they are long‑lived compared with many species. Once the tonal studies were completed, I moved on to a line drawing of the whole plant as a line drawing. I often focus only on selected parts of a plant in a study page, but the size and simple structure of this orchid made it easy to draw in full. Later, I refined the drawing before adding tone to a few selected areas (see the videos).

Beginning with tonal flower studies ensures that the most ephemeral part of the plant is recorded accurately. From there, the full line drawing provides a structural map that supports later decisions about composition. This combination of tonal study and line work forms the backbone of my preparatory process.

https://youtu.be/UsQkufORvg0

Once the initial outline is on paper—this first stage took around an hour—I began developing the page further by reviewing areas where I needed more information and detail. I added additional drawings and made enlargements where appropriate, which gave much greater clarity for the smaller parts of the plant. I also made small adjustments to the main drawing to ensure accuracy; any botanical drawing requires constant refinement, and this is why it’s important to work with a light touch and a sharp pencil (though not so sharp that it scratches the paper) - you should be able to erase without trace of any former line - if you find the line hard to erase with a kneadable eraser - you are most likely being too heavy handed or the pencil is too soft -so make adjustments.

This stage is where careful observational refinement and measured drawing come together. Enlargements facilitate a better understanding of the small parts of the flower, and revisiting the outline ensures that the structure is correct before committing to tonal work or colour studies. Maintaining a delicate pencil line allows for easy corrections, which is essential in botanical illustration.

Adding the Tone and Working Against the Clock

I begin adding tone using a small range of pencil grades starting with 4H, 2H, H and up to HB grade, which I found sufficient when each grade is used correctly, I have the option of going darker with B grades but did not feel it was needed.

There’s no need to add tone to every part of a study page; it can be tempting to spend a long time on a study page but doing so can use up valuable time, and managing the plant material is always in my mind, running out of time with a plant is poor management - but that does not mean that the study page should be rushed or incomplete.

I try to spend no more than a single day adding additional detail drawings and tonal work to the page by focusing of the key areas: such as - one or two flowers, a bud, a few leaves, and at least one cane. This selective approach gives me enough information for the final painting - but how much time is needed to produce a study page very much depends on the complexity of the plant being illustrated. The orchid in this study has simple relatively small leaves, so I had time to add tone to a few parts.

Working in this way keeps the process efficient and ensures that the tonal studies support the structural drawing. This approach of working on selected areas helps me to judge how the pencils will respond to each part of the plant drawing, how they layer, how easily they lift, and how smoothly they transition from light to dark. It’s an essential part of achieving good tonal values and accurate rendering in botanical illustration. But it's also a balance between tonal accuracy and time management—both are essential when working with living plant material and this is why time is best spent on selected areas of the page rather than trying to work hastily on too mamy parts of the page.

https://youtu.be/_FquBmg4ncw