clean lines and bright washes

I was really taken by the roughness and simplicity of these botanical sketches by Theodoor Willem Niewenhuis — they are so fresh with such clean lines and bright washes; something you would see out of a sketchbook today, though they were painted around 1895.



And then there were these beauties by Richard Roland Holst and Theo van Hoytema from around 1892 and 1900:



It makes me want to take a walk down to Rabat's botanical gardens with a sketchbook...

botanica

Jacob Marrel. Sheet from a Tulip Book. c.1640. Watercolour on parchment. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Crispijn van de Passe I. Title Page and Eleven Prints of Flowers, Plants, and Fruit, from Cognoscite lilia agri. c.1600–1604. Engravings. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.