Violets

I don’t know what it is about violets but they just charm me. They’re pretty little flowers that grow so low to the ground that many people miss them entirely. But, perhaps it is their elusive nature that makes then so attractive to me and lures me to this vintage violet drawing.

This drawing is from a book that is over 150 years old. Back then, books were pretty much only printed using presses and the only available ink color was black. If someone wanted colored illustrations in their book, they first printed the black outlines and then an artist would hand-paint each picture. Can you just imagine how expensive those books must have been at the time? What treasures they are that they have survived all these years and are now being used by their great-great-great grandchildren’s generation.

My favorite violets are these wild ones in the original purple color. Every now and again you can find white ones growing in the wild but they are pretty rare. My indoor garden is mostly African violets. While not even close to the same sort of plant, they too offer a subtle, yet charming flower to enjoy.

Like the heavily hybridized varieties of violets that are growing on my desk, the following picture comes from a bit of playing around of my own. Have you ever done that? Taken a picture and just applied a series of random effects and color changes to see what turns out? Granted, it’s just about impossible to duplicate the process if you’re using a free little editor like my fave Irfanview; but, that’s part of the fun.

I thought I would include with the original vintage violet drawing, with its purple flowers and bright green leaves, another image that was the result of my tinkering with the graphics program’s settings. I think it’s pretty cool myself and could see it used at a smaller size as a background for a larger project.

As always, please let me know if you find any of the images here on FreeVintageArt.com useful. I would love to include an example or link to your work.