Sajan
Sajan

Botanical watercolor paintings on paper.

About

A practice of looking closely

I am a watercolor artist painting botanical subjects on paper. This is a quiet record of looking closely at flowers, leaves, and water.

A finished bird-of-paradise watercolor on paper beside a yellow-handled brush, a paint-smeared palette, and a laptop on a studio table.
In the studioA finished bird-of-paradise, the palette, and the brush.

Artist statement

Observation, then pigment

I paint botanical subjects in watercolor, drawn to the way a flower holds its own architecture: the turn of a stem, the fold of a petal, the color that gathers at an edge.

My subjects are mostly tropical flowers, garden blooms, succulents, and water lilies. Painted close, the plant's structure becomes the subject rather than a background.

Each painting is made on paper in layers, leaving the white of the sheet to hold the light. The work is quiet by intention, an invitation to look a little longer.

Process

How a painting is made

The work moves slowly: from close observation to transparent layers of color, with the paper left to carry the light.

  1. Looking

    I start with the plant itself: the turn of the stem, the fold of a petal, and the places where the color gathers.

  2. Layering

    The painting is built in transparent layers, from a pale first wash to deeper pigment, letting the paper dry between passes.

  3. Reserving the white

    The bare sheet is left where the light should remain. The white of the paper is part of the painting, not empty space.

Enquiries

For commissions, exhibitions, and studio visits

Write to Sajan about available works, commissions, or a visit to the studio.

Contact Sajan