Welcome spring, which means blossoming trees and plants everywhere. I thought it can be a great time to talk about flowers. I'm really passionate about them and recently I found a tiny sketchbook of mine that, as a kid, I used for drawing. In this little notebook, every second page is a flower so I realized my enthusiasm comes from a very early age.
Since that time I draw flowers whenever I can. Even in school classes, I drew at the corner of my exercise book and I keep doing it until now.
I oftentimes start to draw flowers when I begin to sketch something. It's a secure and comfortable thing and sometimes it can bring me to a further sketch like a character's position or a landscape. It helps me to get the flow and not overthink drawing.
I love to see them in my living space, I have 3 flowering orchids and a Widow's-thrill in my room. I can already see more and more blossoming trees and plants outside and my heart feels joy.
Where are all these admirations coming from?
Actually, I haven't really thought about it until I found a book by Béla Hamvas called Babérligetkönyv. In this book, he collects some thoughts on different topics and I found an essay called 'the psychology of flower picking'.
The author is curious about why we tend to pick flowers and what is really the reason behind it. We love to watch them inside the room in a vase, we plant them in gardens or decorate everything with them.
Why flower picking is the only act against a living being that can be forgiven?
If you're also really into these questions you can read the full essay HERE in Hungarian
If I focus on inspiration from real flowers I use a Hungarian book series called Búvár Zsebkönyv. They are really handy and I always find everything I want.
The greatest thing to do is just go outside and give it a try with your sketchbook. Unfortunately, it's not really the case with me, because I live in a city and I'm surrounded by the same plants all the time, but of course, sometimes I can still find something new and exciting flower.
My other dear book on the topic is Gabriele Tergit's Flowers Through the Ages.
It analyses flowers and gardens from cultural aspects. You can find all the well-known flowers from a historical point of view from different cultures, eras, and locations. It's a really detailed book about the symbol of flowers and gardens in general, and specifically. In every culture and religion, flowers symbolize happiness or paradise. They were used for mostly healing and after we reached an existential level we could create gardens with our own flowers. Thus flowers make us happy and according to the book, a gardener lives longer than someone without a garden.
We're giving flowers in every kind of ceremony: birth, marriage, sickness, death
✿ We're welcoming each other by giving flowers for a new baby, a guest, or for a couple in their marriage
✿ We're giving wreaths for funerals with a strong belief that every spirit needs comfort in the afterlife.
There's a really strong connection between flowers and love.
✿ We give scarlet roses and red tulips as a declaration of love.
✿ Turkish woman -who couldn't write- used to say yes to a marriage offer with Muscari.
✿ Flowers have their own language so you can even express rejected love. In Asia and Greece, Irises were the symbol of it.
✿ Violet is a kind greeting, Edelweiss is for keeping secrets.
Amazing Flowery stuffs
✿ I WANT TO STOP THINKING SO I START DRAWING A FLOWER is a collection of flower drawings and comics about drawing flowers by Zsófia Rumi
✿ I wish to live in a house like this. Wall painting by Agostino Iacurci
✿ Love these flowery nails by Larum
✿ Beautiful illustration by Lili Veszprémi, an amazing textile, pattern & surface designer
Do you know anything interesting about flowers or can you recommend any books, films, exhibitions anything connected to them?
I'm happy to hear about your thoughts, you can also reply to me via email.
Wish you many many beautiful flowers!
Sending Love
Ágnes
Some words about me
Hi, I’m Ágnes, a passionate illustrator and animated filmmaker from Hungary.
I'm obsessed with colorful drawings, funny characters, and nature-inspired illustrations. My work fields include editorial illustration, children’s book illustration, brand illustration, animated film, and gifs. Besides commissions, I teach animation and illustration at an art school in Budapest.