How often do you post paintings?

I originally intended to paint one plant pathogen each week. I managed this for around two years. The amount of research needed for each painting proved too much, especially when I had worked my way through a lot of the easy options (for example plant diseases that I had worked with, or that have very characteristic symptoms).

I’m now aiming to paint one plant disease (whether with biological or physical cause) each month. I intend to post one painting each week, but they will include other series, for example holiday sketches.

How long do the paintings take?

The plant disease paintings vary hugely, with some taking three to five hours of research, followed by between one and five hours of painting. The holiday sketches usually involve one reference photo, and one to three hours of sketching.

Why Plant Pathogens?

1) I really like plants, and plant diseases.

2) I’ve had more feedback and support, for my plant disease paintings, than for anything else that I’ve created.

3) I love that people sometimes use these paintings when teaching or presenting!

Why are there more paintings of pathogenic fungi than anything else?

1) Many pathogenic fungi have clear, interesting, or easily identifiable phenotypes. Especially rust fungi. Bacterial and viral infections are far harder to identify from symptoms alone, especially for the latter. Heat damage, herbicides, bacterial and viral symptoms can all appear very similar. Often the cause can only be fully determined via molecular methods.

2) I’ve spent more time studying pathogenic fungi than anything else.

3) These are what people have requested on my twitter page or through the contact form.

4) I am planning on adding more paintings from other disease sources eventually (parasitic plants, nematodes, oomycetes, phytoplasma, insects etc) .

Why ink painting?

I was given a set of ink paints for Christmas in 2021, and discovered that I really enjoyed using them.

I’ve more recently started using chalk and charcoal to develop my understanding of light and shadow. This practice has helped me to elevate some of my art, developing a greater sense of depth and perspective on the paintings where I want this to be present.

Do you really do one painting a week?

On average, yes. Sometimes I get more than one done and I’ll use the extra for a week where I don’t have the time to paint.

Paired paintings - why do you do them?

Creating complementary pairs of paintings on the same page allows me to:

• practice placement and framing, e.g. allowing enough space for each painting and not running right up to the edge of the page.

• highlight commonalities and differences in disease symptoms.

• show complementary leaf shapes or colours that appealed.

Occasionally I create pairs of paintings on separate pages. This tends to be when I have completed a whole-page painting, and then thought of a related image that I would like to paint.

Shouldn’t these be called plant disease paintings, not plant pathogen paintings?

Yes, but I chose alliteration over pedantic accuracy.

What will you do when you run out of plant diseases to paint?

There are more plant diseases than you would imagine… but I have started including my other paintings and drawings too!

Have you really made an entire website for your hobby?

Yes.