#34: Hollyhock

Inspiration:
It was a rainy day. It was dreary and grey. I decided to bring some color into my day by drawing. I also was a bit behind in my online class, and had not tried incorporating a bee and a dragonfly. I like hollyhocks and I found a few pictures on the Web to use as reference photos. As I was half way through my drawing, I realized one of the reference photos had some water drops on a flower. I had never tried those, so decided to add some as well.

#34: Hollyhock

Colored pencil on 9" x 12" vellum

What I like about the drawing:
I used the technique I learned for drawing shiny fur to bring out highlights in the flowers. I think it was quite effective. I worked to make the leaves look 'blotchy' by adding small blocks of color. This seemed to work on most leaves. When I thought I had finished the drawing I realized it was very plain. I added the fence, and later some soft color,on the sky. 


What I might do differently: 
My bee, and to some degree, the dragonfly don't look grounded. I am going to add a bit of shadow under the insects to see if it helps make them look more realistic. I made an error in the composition and of the drawing. The water droplets look more like the bee peed on the flower!

What I learned:
I was really pleased with the way the foundation of dark umber created dimension in the flowers.  I was finding it difficult to lightly color he sky without pencil lines showing. I made a "puddle" do color on a scrap, and rubbed a cork in the puddle and then rubbed that on the paper. 

#33: Iris

Inspiration:
On a beautiful spring day I went outside to begin cleaning up my gardens. You know, weeding, dividing and moving perennials, that sort of thing. I noticed one perfect blossom on my dwarf iris plant. It was stunning. Since I had already tried drawing some iris from a  picture for my online Heirloom Garden class, I decided to try drawing one from life.

#33: Iris

5" X 8" colored pencil on vellum

What I like about the drawing:
I was really pleased with the depth of color I achieved by using many layers of colored pencil. The petals are very rich and almost look velvety. I used sgraffito to lighten up edges of the petals and expose under layers of different colors for highlights. 

What I might do differently: 
I used the wrong side of the paper. This is a rough vellum and up until this picture, I had been using the smoother, back side. I had a very difficult time covering the white of the paper. However, that may have been a 'happy accident' since the layers of colored pencil contribute to the richness of the end result.

What I learned: 
I discovered that I could burnish with the violet pencil, and still have other color show through. I tried burnishing a test spot with cream and didn't like how it dulled the colors. So, since the annoying white indentations of the paper continued to show,  I had no choice but to keep rubbing.

Sitting in the iris bed