Lobelia inflata in Late Summer

About this journal entry

Lobelia inflata is one of my most treasured wild-crafted herbs. It grows around us here like a “weed”, and most would never think it to be a useful plant. It’s not very decorative or interesting to the average person.

The seeds are invaluable in my muscle spasm and cramp ointments or unguents. I’ve written about lobelia in other posts at my website and this past summer an article with illustration was published in the North American Native Plant Society’s member journal, The Blazing Star.

This drawing was one that turned out well without a lot of agonizing over it in the field. But, as you can see, the top of the plant and the rock is cut off because I didn’t start far enough down the page.

When I wrote the article for The Blazing Star, almost two years after the original drawing, I redrew it and added the top half of the plant. I just went by what was already there and imagined how the top should look. It turned out well.

So, even though the in situ drawing wasn’t perfect, it was enough to go on to later make a finished drawing. In some of my drawings I use a lot more color. For this one, I kept the color sparse and retained the original pencil sketch look.

About the Wild Ozark Nature Journal

Get the index to the other journal entries and read about my project at Wild Ozark Nature Journal.

If you keep a nature journal online, share the link to yours in the comments.