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Hi Sheila, I can see you are ready for spring! This page makes me smile and gives me hope for warmer weather! Beautiful composition! I love the way you incorporated the monochromatic dried elements with the bright vibrant leaves and flowers that are so alive!

I love the addition of the cone. This whole page is just so beautiful.

Yes to the cone. 🙂 What a great conversation going on in this piece. (Signs of spring – I’m seeing some snowdrop shoots coming up here in BC)

This is fantastic! Are you exploring the technique of drawing and cutting out the drawings for composition? I have started to do that as I test out a bouquet in vase drawing.

Beautiful composition.

Yes, a nice rhythmic feel! it seem like it is dancing.

Lovely

LOVE the lines

Hi Fiona, Nice shine on those leaves! And I like the little cluster of berries. I also like your rich darks. You have a good value range. I’d like to see a bit more care with the embossing. Embossing is tricky. It tends to be too uniform. Partly because you are working blind. Try practicing to get more variations in value and width. The lines…[Read more]

Thanks Kate for your feedback . I agree re embossing, I tend to get a bit carried away instead of really observing my subject .

Thanks Vern .

I drew some more sycamore leaves on scrap pieces of paper, and then photographed them and played around with where I might want to place them in my composition using photoshop. Any comments about what works and what doesn’t? I’m kind of feeling like that main leaf (the one in the original drawing) is looking really stiff. I might start from…[Read more]

Hi Pam- I think the composition tells a story starting with the leaf (and seed pods) that are still attached to the stem versus the leaves that are in various stages of decay. I don’t feel like the original leaf looks stiff. It looks like a leaf in the later stage of it’s life that is still connected to it’s life source. I really like your compo…[Read more]

Hi Pam, Lovely drawing! I see the lesser contrast of the original leaf and seedpods as setting them back in space. An example of aerial perspective. The two bottom leaves with their strong darks appear to come forward.

Thanks Katy, That helps!

I really like it, Pam. And I am so very impressed by your smooth smooth toning and transitions.

Woweeeeeee!!!!!!!

Vern, I’ll play around with the composition some more. Thanks! Helpful 🙂

Fun subject! Good studies/drawing. In the photo – make sure you have your light source from the upper left so you can observe the core shadow and highlights. Tone the branch and roots as cylinders and show us those highlights and darks.

Hi Helene- the leaf is nicely rendered! What I would continue to work on is toning and details. When I look at the photo of the leaf I see variations of color and there are areas that have some shadows, highlights, etc. Adding those will add more interest to your drawing. Be careful not to have your light source too close to the subject as it can…[Read more]

I really enjoy the tiny little playful leaf tips.

Thanks Vern for suggesting a lighter version ! It was an interesting challenge – I am trying to work on my drawing and toning.

Wow Cathie!!! You definitely rose to the challenge!!!! You have achieved all those great details and the form is so much better! I think you need to have a highlight where there was one on the original drawing and I would also add some more dark tones on the right side of the bulb to emphasize the form even more. Also more dark toning where the…[Read more]