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I appreciate the suggestions that I received on my radish and have tried to incorporate them. Here is what I think is my finished radish!

Drew this heirloom tomato and trying to decide whether to add anything – was thinking of some red/yellow/green cherry tomatoes on the middle left and right sides but would it be too crowded? Thoughts?

Thank you all! The moth was found under a pile of leaves, perfectly preserved but less vibrant than when alive. I drew him from the top and underneath (flipped over) then decided to add the other two stages of his life.

Hi Richard- great photo! You can really see the spiral pattern on this seed head. In Wendy’s book “The Joy of Botanical Drawing” Chapter 8 covers this topic. She illustrates the spiral pattern on conifer cones and also strawberries in detail. You would use those same principles on the cone flower’s seed head.

Hi Lee- you are off to a good start! The colors seem good! What is missing for me is the texture. In Botanical Basics Wendy demonstrates drawing a feather on Lesson 22. That would be a good reference in capturing the texture. The cast shadow is a little too dark. I would also expect the edge of the cast shadow to follow the irregular edge of the feather.

(When I said “flower head” I meant that center tuft of little tiny flowers that makes up that round shape in the center)

Any suggestions on how to do the center?

Sharon, this is a really good start to getting that center area. It already feels like echinacea to me. Now think about the 3D form of that flower head, and shade that center area sort of like a sphere. If the light is coming from the upper right, you would get dark on the bottom left of that center, and leave a highlight where in the upper right…[Read more]

Margaret, this is just gorgeous!

Richard, it looks like you may be trying to work too quickly. Try keeping your colored pencils very sharp, and really take your time building layers lightly and slowly. I think you’ll get smoother gradients and crisper edges that way.

Thank you so much Pam for your feedback. Lighting and toning are such a challenge!!

Oh Deborah, these are great! And it looks like you are lighting them correctly from the upper left. Yay! I am especially impressed with your toning on the mulberry leaf. It looks nice and smooth, and you are getting nice 3D form. You may want to narrow up those secondary veins a bit. They seem a bit too wide. On the lower right side of that leaf,…[Read more]

You are getting some really nice smooth toning on that green acorn. And your highlight looks really nice and natural. Great job. I’m a little confused about the light source. On the green acorn, the position of your highlight makes it appear like the light is coming from the upper right, but the cast shadow makes it appear like the light is coming…[Read more]

Better, Joann. Now that you’ve practiced using Wendy’s drawing as a guide, try to find a subject of your own that you can draw from life.

Thank you so much again. I enjoyed doing this and it does sort of look like the forests I visited. Yes, I need to add something to the white rectangle. And good point about the sky, I will add some ultramarine blue on the right – I think I started with cobalt blue (or was it phtalo? Gosh, can’t remember now) on the left and then gradually changed…[Read more]