This was one of the projects for the Heirloom Garden online drawing class I have been taking.
#32: Echinacea and Swallowtail
9" x 12" colored pencil on vellum
What I like about the drawing:
What I learned:
I loved how the v's and inverted v's created the bristly look of the cone.
I like the shading on the petals of the flower, and on the 'cone'. The blush of orange on the butterfly is pleasing. I think the shading on the leaves where they fold is effective.
What I might do differently:
The body of the butterfly is a bit chunky and clunky. I failed to do the underdrawing in Dark Umber, as was suggested in the instructions. Burnishing it with cream helped a bit, but it all seemed to get too large. There isn't much sense of where the light is coming from. The shadows are all over the place. I need to be more purposeful about selecting a light source and sticking with it.
What I might do differently:
The body of the butterfly is a bit chunky and clunky. I failed to do the underdrawing in Dark Umber, as was suggested in the instructions. Burnishing it with cream helped a bit, but it all seemed to get too large. There isn't much sense of where the light is coming from. The shadows are all over the place. I need to be more purposeful about selecting a light source and sticking with it.
What I learned:
I loved how the v's and inverted v's created the bristly look of the cone.
