Inspired by an Antique Book

Last week I stumbled upon a wonderful old book in an antique store.  Although I paid more than I usually would for an old book (I mean $6 is a little steep for me), this book was meant for me.  It appealed to my interests in both nature and art.  Copyright 1901, and it's in wonderful condition. Hard to believe, but it's 110 years old!

And not only does it have great illustrations of all kinds of ferns, it also has little prose and poetry selections from authors such as Burns and Wordsworth at the beginning of each section.
























I have been poring over the book for days and inspired to work on my drawing skills as well.

Here is a page that I did in my art journal.  For the background, I used fluid acrylics mixed with superloaded matte medium to make a good drawing surface.  (This is a technique that I learned in Jacqueline Sullivan's class last month.) Then I used pen and ink for the fern drawing and the lettering of the poem that I copied from the book.  Fun!!