Inspired by the photo on the left, I began by drawing an amaryllis bud in Procreate for the Lumin'Art 2024 project. I was drawn to this image because the plant already seemed almost human, a natural candidate for anthropomorphising. Like a one-eyed pirate with a jawline reminiscent of Popeye, I imagined it watching me, anticipating my next move. The ideas started to flow and I ended up creating three digital artworks from this initial drawing.
The first completed artwork titled "Amaryllis Fish" went through a number of transformations. I repeated the drawing multiple times to shape it into a fish.
The image was strikingly sensual, so I decided to add textures to tone it down.
By layering textures across the fish's surface and erasing or softening them in some areas, I achieved a variety of finishes. A blue background, colour filters, plant-like elements, and bubbles were added to evoke an underwater world.
While I liked the result, I worried that wrapping the image around a large cylinder might obscure its fish shape.
Since Lumin'Art is a public art project, I wanted something more universally relatable. This led me to create bird-dinosaur-like creatures from the same amaryllis bud. I particularly liked one image, which I titled *Birth*. In it, a baby amaryllis bud begins to burrow out of the ground while its "parents" look on proudly.
Although I loved the soft, light hues of Birth, I was concerned about how the lantern's interior lighting might wash out the colours.
To address this, I created another bizarre, offbeat Bud Family in bold, saturated tones. View a video of the creative process.
The unveiling of the artworks took place on December 6th, 2024, in frigid weather. We were all swaddled like mummies. Because everyone wore thick mitts, applause during the speeches sounded like muted bongo drums.
Below are views of my lantern at night and during the day. The nighttime colours appear less saturated due to the interior lighting of the cylinder, but I adjusted the contrast in these photos for better clarity.
Here are more night and day views. The individual muffled in the light blue winter coat is moi.
I suspect I'm not quite done with buds yet because I just bought another amaryllis plant to liven up the holiday season. A pink one this time and it requires a little extra work on my part. I have to keep the earth moist for some strange reason. Perhaps with this added effort, another odd creature will join my repertoire. I hope so as I'm a big fan of aliens.
Although I loved the soft, light hues of Birth, I was concerned about how the lantern's interior lighting might wash out the colours.
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