Freesia - a botanical watercolour illustration

This painting has been travelling in two countries: I started to work on it during my stay in Denmark and after I returned to my home country. I will admit that I did a bit of procrastination with this one as I have put it aside while starting new paintings. But last month, all of a sudden, I felt an urge to finish it.

Freesia is my favourite flower. If I could have massive amounts of this flower I would never get bored of sniffing it, its perfume is divine. As I did a bit of research on the wonderful web of the internet I stumbled across some interesting informations about freesia and I will share them with you:

• in some parts of the world freesia is a symbol for the seventh wedding anniversary

• these flowers possess a fascinating ability to self-pollinate, ensuring their survival even in the absence of pollinators

• red and pink varieties have the strongest smell and they are used in the perfume industry

As usual I did my botanical illustration with watercolours, adding layer after layer. This takes time and patience and it can be frustrating because it is a slow process.

I have made a short video where I talk about this painting:

I also made a short presentation of the actual painting, with close-ups, so you could see the details: