A satisfying day tidying up the garden yesterday, as its winter hiatus draws to a merciful close, threw up some unexpected delights in the shape of a handful of Chinese Lantern (Physalis alkekengi) husks. I find this plant and its flowers magical and have returned to draw and paint it at regular intervals over recent years e.g. Chinese Lantern on Blue – a fully worked up painting on my website, and Chinese Lantern #1 – a coloured pencil study on this blog, made almost exactly 2 years ago.

Unlike the husks in the 2013 blog entry, the delicate, lace-like husks retrieved from the garden yesterday reveal their inner fruit. I’m planning on doing a painting or two of these husks, but today, with time at a premium, I made do with a couple of small sketchbook studies in pen (with a touch of coloured pencil added for interest).