A Small Seed Head & Very Small Seeds
...plus a tip for drawing tiny things
Today’s post features tiny things, lovingly rendered (as always) in my Perpetual Journal. You might remember my post of October 12, 2023 included my art of a Caltrops flower; for my latest Perpetual Journal entry I illustrated Caltrops a few weeks later, after the flower’s been pollinated and has become a seed head.
As I illustrated a year ago, we found a present from a Western Screech-Owl on our porch. In November 2023 we once again have a Western Screech-Owl roosting in our owl box and yes, it’s left us at least 3 more presents! 😁
🎨 Art Process Note
I almost always take reference photos of my art subjects. These two Perpetual Journal entries are a great example of one of the reasons I do this: some subjects are simply too small for me to be able to see much detail using just my eyeballs. Although the owl pellet was 1.5” long, the seed head was 1/2” long, and the seeds were less than 1/8” long!
I love taking photos of tiny objects like these and then looking at those photos enlarged on my monitor so I can see (and draw) all the fascinating details! These Caltrops seeds just look like little dark dits when I hold them in my hand, but when I view my photos of them greatly enlarged I can see amazing details like all those cool pointy edges!
This quote seems appropriate for today’s post:
“Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look.”
- Jodi Picoult
So amazing. Did you dissect the owl pellets?