Over the years I’ve written illustrated articles now and then for the North American Native Plant Society. These are published in their newsletter ‘The Blazing Star’, and I feel honored to have the featured article sometimes. The most recent article is about American Dittany, or Cunila origanoides. It’s one of my favorite little native plants that grow here at Wild Ozark. Here’s the story and my drawing of American Dittany.
Drawing American Dittany
When I write for this publication, I use Prismacolor pencils to create the drawings. I can’t get colors close enough to actual with my paints, and they like the images to be as realistic as possible.
This year I had my new little studio to use while working on this project! So that made me happy, even if I’m not ready to actually use it as a studio yet. I used it anyway and delayed working on finishing the walls and floors until I finished the drawings.
My Previous Illustrated Articles
- Blazing Star Spring 2021 (illustrated cover & featured article on Showy Orchis)
- Blazing Star Fall 2021 (my illustrated article on Orchids begins on p.9)
- Blazing Star Summer 2017 (illustrated cover, featured article on Lobelia inflata)
- Blazing Star Spring 2016 (Ginseng through the Seasons, photography & article, begins on p. 4)
Excerpt from the Dittany article
“Curious, I stopped for a closer look. A single American dittany was at the centre of all that attention, but it was not alone; there were several other plants along the path. This shrub-like perennial with tiny, tubular flowers boasted a horde of pollinating insects: honeybees, small butterflies (skippers), tiny sweat bees, syrphid flies and small beetles.
Usually less than a foot (one-third of a metre) tall, American dittany is not a lush plant. The wire-thin, hairy, purplish, square stalks sport petioles with opposite leaves. The flower clusters, ranging from lilac to pink to white, surround the top of each leaf bracket and crown the tips of the branches.”
Here’s the whole article if you’d like to open the PDF:
. For the whole issue of the newsletter, email me and I’ll send by email. The file is too large to add as a download on my website.
