Walking home with my specimen for this drawing this afternoon, the wind nearly took it away, but enough was intact to marvel at the millions of itty bitty pieces that make up this letter “d” of my natural patterns alphabet.
“Dandelion,” 5 x 5 inches, pen and ink
I think I had known this before, but I re-learned that the name dandelion comes from the French “dent de lion” or “lion’s tooth” based on the shape of the leaf. I did not include the leaf here mainly for compositional reasons, but it is interesting that the plant’s name is inspired by the leaf, yet most people would recognize it by the flower, or the ghost of the flower, as I drew here.
Ahh, many a child (and, who am I kidding—many an adult) can find no bigger thrill than to blow at one of these and see the seeds flutter on the wind. A lawn maintenance person’s nightmare I know, but still amazingly satisfying.
Ack! I love this one! I might just have to have a whole alphabet when you’re finished, I can’t get enough of these. The chard, the nest . . . they’re all gorgeous.