Week 2

For week 2 our class went out school’s arboretum in Jupiter on January 18th at 2 pm. It was a sunny day with little humidity. I decided to draw the Firebush. Firebush is a perennial or semi-woody shrub that is known scientifically as Hamelia patens. Gardeners love firebush because it produces flowers from late spring until the first frost, and the bright red flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies, including the zebra longwing and gulf fritillary butterflies. Song birds also like to feed on the berries.

The plant’s mature size will depend on where it is grown. In South Florida it may reach fifteen feet tall, though it can easily be kept to five or eight feet tall.

I noticed that the leaves that were on the peripheral of the plant had pink leaves and suspected that it was caused by sunlight. for shading the leaf, I used green for the base and reddish pink stipplings to show death on certain parts of the leaf. I also used a white color pencil to show venation on the leaf.