The Artist - UK (2020-03)

http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMarch 2020 53

PRACTICAL

A

nnual sweet peas (Lathyrus
odoratus) are one of my
favourite flowering climbers
but one that I haven’t grown
successfully myself. It’s been very
much part of quintessential English
cottage gardens since late Victorian
times and is still a firm favourite today.
Whether covering an arch, a wigwam
frame, or against a trellis or wall, the
beautiful pastel-shade flowers put on
a magnificent show and fill the garden
with their sweet, seductive scent
during the summer months. If you are
successful in growing them in your
garden and choose the best varieties
you will be rewarded with a prolonged
flowering season of fabulous colour and
heady fragrance for months.
Sweet peas date back over 300 years
and were native to Sicily, Cyprus and
southern Italy. A Sicilian monk by the
name of Francisco Cupani discovered
the wild form in a hedgerow and sent
the seeds to plant growers in different
countries. The original wild variety has
delicate flowers and stems and bears

Sweet peas in

mixed media

With their gorgeous

colours and climbing

habit, sweet peas are

a firm favourite with

Soraya French, who

shows how to paint

them when arranged

in a simple jug

Soraya French

is president of the Society of Women

Artists. She tutors occasional mixed-

media workshops at her workshop in

Hampshire, and overseas. She

is the author of several books.

http://www.sorayafrench.com

little resemblance to today’s stunning

contemporary hybrids.

Colour

Sweet peas are known for their wide

range of beautiful subtle pastel shades,

from white to cream, peach, rosy pink

and light shades of violet. These are not

wishy-washy pastel shades, but quiet

and sophisticated pale tints of these

colours. In contrast, there are hybrids

with much stronger hues of deep

maroon and dark purple, plus a very

glamorous almost black variety. The

fabulous bi-colour sweet peas combine

shocking pink and deep violets. They’re

a great flower to paint for colour lovers.

Shape

One of the most attractive things

about sweet peas is their asymmetrical

and almost abstract shape of both

flowers and foliage, although this also

means that they are not the easiest

flowers to paint and draw. I love the

chaotic formation of stalks, foliage and

tendrils around the colourful mass

of the flower heads. The plant may

appear dainty and delicate but sweet

peas are surprisingly robust and can

be successfully used as cut flowers in

posies and bouquets. In fact, picking

the flowers encourages the plant to

produce even more, as does the regular

deadheading of the plant.

Painting sweet peas

Sweet peas arranged in a simple vase

or jug adds a wonderful rustic touch

to a room. This is my favourite way

of painting them. In impressionist

paintings there is a certain amount of

abstraction and the idea is to convey

the essence of the flower rather than

depict it in an illustrative manner.

However, it is still important to know

the petal and foliage formation so that

you can make informed decisions about

t Sweet Peas at Lynstead House, mixed

media on Saunders Waterford H P, 16¼20in

(4151cm).

This was a quick and spontaneous painting

of these fabulous sweet peas in the front

garden of a place where I stayed during a visit

to Sidmouth. The colours of the owers really

sang against the pale blue wall beyond and

the greenery of the foliage created a great foil

for the vibrant colours of the owers. I used

Golden Heavy Body acrylic colours for this

painting