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This is my second attempt at capturing peonies – it’s not finished yet – have to do the colored pencil detail on the leaves and more detailed shading on the flowers which I find very challenging. Any suggestions? Should I add green leaves behind the main white flower to set them ff the white? I am afraid of getting a dirty look if I shade too h…[Read more]

Hi Margaret- you are off to a great start! The colors are beautiful and the stems and buds are looking wonderful. I understand your concern about the petals getting muddy, but you need more shading to give the flower dimension and form. Right now most of the petals appear very flat. Leave the highlight areas as white as possible and I would use…[Read more]

This was very helpful, Doug. I ended up using the deep fuchsia pink sporadically on the petals which worked great and also deepened the contrasts. I’ll post the final drawing.

I have been trying to capture Peonies but could use some feedback on this drawing – my first attempt. What do you think it needs?

Hi Margaret- the stems and leaves are beautiful! It can be very effective to use the background color of colored paper as the mid-tone, but you can not rely only on it solely for the toning. The majority of the petals have a transparent quality and they lack definition. Other than using the background paper color for the mid-tone there is no…[Read more]

Thanks – I struggled with how to do that – have the paper be the darker tone? Use greys? Any recommendations?

Japanese Camellia in graphite. Part of the SBA Distance Diploma Assignment 2

Gorgeous Ishbel!

Nice Ishbel! I find stippling so meditative. There are some areas where I expect cast shadows from overlaying leaves. There are a couple of spots where it is missing – the two overlapping leaves stands out.

I added the leaves and second flowering stem to fill out the bottom of the page. Otherwise, the main stem looked like a telephone pole. What are your thought on these additions?

Hi Helene- I know what you mean about the telephone pole. The flowers are gorgeous, but there is something about the angled second stem that bothers me and holds my attention. Partly because it is so straight. A curve to the stem (even at the base) I think would help. I would also try sketching on tracing paper having the the second stem emerge…[Read more]

Thank you Doug. I am working on it!

Wonderful Karye! The colors and delicacy are fantastic! It looks like you clipped the flower and laid it on the page! I look forward to seeing it as you progress!

What is intriguing about this Hawaii plant is the look of the fruit when it touches the ground (lower left). I did not see it when it dropped but I suspect that the fruit opens as it touches the ground. Later, it closes as it dries (lower right).

Hi Helene- that view of the open pod is just amazing! Consider adding a shadow cast from the center seed pod. Because of the strong contrast of the view of the open pod it really holds my eye and the other views suffer accordingly. The closed view of the pod is almost there. I think it needs a little more dark toning added in the shadowed areas…[Read more]

Hi Denise- the flower colors are wonderful! Doing full face views of flowers can be tricky not to mention the white aspect. The flower is missing some form and definition because it needs some shadows, etc. This view does not allow you to capture all those amazing details you illustrated in the purple hellebore. I think of hellebore petals as…[Read more]