Activity

I love the little fine hairy roots.

Thank you Dolores. Drawing is very new to me so I’m really over the moon about this beet

I love this beet! It has such character! Beautiful sensitive drawing! I sort of question the strong diagonal root. It leads my eye off the page. But then again, it seems to be telling a story. so I am intrigued.

Thank you Katie I think I was trying to draw the root as I saw it and it did have a crazy root structure. I don’t know how to make artistic decisions just yet, especially before I start a drawing but I do see that it kind of interrupts the picture.

Your beet looks so beety! I feel like if I touched it it would feel just like a beet. Great drawing.

I see by your photos that the root does have that strange sideways pointing position. Sometimes you need to make “artistic modifications”. As long as that dominant root position is not a characteristic of the plant. As I tell my students, “Draw what you see, use what you have learned.”

Thanks you guys. Yes Katy I understand what you are saying. Like if I were to want to draw an actual botanical illustration I’d get a more representative beet and omit confusing details like some random long beet arm crossing over. (This bag of beets were all the strangest beets I’ve ever seen and they were very woody!)

I enjoyed the spring flower workshop. I learned so much and I was inspired to continue with something I find intimidating.

Great pages Ethel! Keep up the good work!

Yellow! Such a challenging color! I love the ripply edges!

Thank you, Doug and Katy.

Ehel, this is wonderful!!! And I love all of your notes. Great job!

The stamens and the pistol are amazing Mary! However, I am not getting the feeling that they are coming out of the well in the center. Adding some darker toning on the right side and base of the stamen in addition to the well area would help. There are also areas on the petals that need darker toning – like on the underside of the petal on the…[Read more]

Hi Rita- this drawing is throwing me a bit. The Lily of the Valley, that I have been trying to corral in my garden for years has a much different shaped leaf that is a very yellowish green. The leaves are also much more prominent than the flowers. It is totally possible that there are varieties I am not familiar with.

This rutabaga has a lot of personality Maureen! Personally I would not have put in a cast shadow, but I would change yours. Instead of the cast shadow coming forward it should angle back at a 45 degree angle and have more gradation of tones. It does not have to be darker except closest to your subject. The reflected highlight is too bright of a…[Read more]

@doug-milne thanks so much! I was thinking the same thing about the cast shadow, the imperfections in the skin were intriguing. I think I might choose a perspective that doesn’t make the brown area so pronounced next time.

I tried to tighten up the secondary veins on the back of the leaf with sepia and light green to look less regular.

Nice leaves Mary. You can definitely tell which is the front and which is the back. You could have the secondary veins on the front view taper more. They get narrower as they travel toward the outside edges. The back view has a lot more highlight to it or did you do that because the back was a lighter color? I think you do not need as much dark…[Read more]