Titan arum - new painting

Recently I visited the Cairns Botanical Gardens in northern Queensland. The very hot and humid conditions were ideal for their collections of tropical plants.

I fell in love with the incredible Carrion Lilies with their huge presence, colours and design elements.  They grow to about 3 metres.

Above is the Amorphophallus decus-silvae which is found in Java, Indonesia.

After returning from Cairns I visited the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney and discovered the wonderful Amorphophallus titanum - Titan arum,  which is an herbaceous flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.

It is commonly known as the Corpse Lily due to its foul smelling inflorescence. The odour resembles rotten flesh which attracts the pollinators Flesh Flies and Carrion Beetles. The Titan arum is endemic to the hot and humid rainforest areas of Indonesia but they can be seen in many botanical gardens worlewide, including Sydney, Australia.

They only bloom every 4-10 years which make them a very special addition to any collection.

Below are the initial washes of my flower, and I am planning to do a second painting of the Amorphallus decus-silvae to compliment the Titan arum.

The spadix has a very 'bubbled' surface, so I applied masking fluid over a very light wash. More washes are to be painted over the masking fluid.

Still lots of detail to complete to finish off this painting - and this is the part I love the most!!!