I get inspired by nature and try to work from a living plant, depicting its beauty and creating deep and complex colour layer by layer in watercolor technic.

KATERYNA SPIRTUS

Everyone knows the smell of tangerines, but not many people know the aroma of its flowers. Painting this blooming branch was such a great pleasure. White flowers smell like bergamot! And while the beauty of these little flowers is short-lived, it is charmingly sweet. The petals will fall off soon and one will see the green embryo of the future fruit. As it matures, tangerine will acquire its orange color and recognizable smell.

Watercolour On Cotton Paper

Digital

Botany

Realistic

Realism

Floral

Nature

Flowers

Botanical Illustration

Botanical Art

Watercolor Art

I was born in Crimea, where plantations of tea roses were commonly grown for perfumery. My grandmother had a huge bush in her garden. When it bloomed, it was impossible to get enough of the lovely scent. In fact, it was so delicious that I often picked a rose petal to taste it. Recently I had a chance to go to a rose plantation and plucked a flower for painting. Unfortunately the rose lost a few petals on the way, but that made it even more beautiful.

Botanical

This evergreen shrub with long shoots and unusually shaped flowers reminds me of sea creatures. The plant got its name in honour of the sea god Proteus, who could change his appearance. This plant does not naturally grow in Ukraine, and it was a great surprise and joy to see this flower alive. I was very inspired by the velvety texture of its soft pink petals and the juiciness of its huge leaves. So I decided to paint this amazing flower in watercolour.

Dry protea flowers have their own charm. Dry leaves change their colour and, as if painted in watercolour, they leave an elusive original shade. The shapes of the petals become sharp and graphic, losing their smooth curvatures. The dry flower has not died. It has conserved its beauty, which is no less charming.

Flowers have a brief life. They bloom and decorate the world, giving us the joy of contact and contemplation of beauty. I perceive their flowering as a symbol of the transience and changes of this life, which teaches me to appreciate the moment. This dried protea, like a frozen emotion, reminds me of a dance.

The artichoke reminds me of an unearthly sculpture created by the hand of a stern master. It is devoid of elegance but monumental in its form. There is a certain strength and constancy in it that soothes your gaze. Its exquisite green color interspersed with rust is associated with a mysterious find, that a capricious wave washes onto the shore.

The sacrament of birth is a miracle. There are not so many people who can pay attention to the flowers that haven’t blossomed and shown their perfect beauty yet. In this picture, I wanted to capture the moment of first, still crumpled petals, which will change their shape and colour when they bloom. They will become smooth and silky to flutter in the warm wind.

Poppy

Poppy Flowers

Poppies

Watercolor

Orange flower boxes of physalis can stand in a vase during winter, looking like small lanterns. One spring I found it in the garden. Its petals had lost their color and were partly crumbled, revealing a skeleton through which I could see the orange fruit inside it. Like a little sun, it looked at me with hope, asking for my protection from complete decay. I was afraid that the box would crumble from my touch, but it remained quite elastic and lived a long life, becoming the model for my picture.

Close up detailed realistic  watercolor painting of a dry physalis berry

KATERYNA SPIRTUS

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