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Several things: 1. I love daffodils {or jonquils as my Nana called them} but I’ve never been able to draw them to my own satisfaction. This my be the first that I am genuinely happy with, despite its imperfections. 2. The line that indicates the “main” or front most petal… it is what it is… but how would I make it less prominent for drawi…[Read more]

Yellow flowers are so tricky Paige! I think the upper face of the curved up area on the middle petal would be lighter because it would catch the light. The lower section of the curve would be toned a little because it would not catch as much of the light and toning there would convey that it curves under there. I would tone more to the right of…[Read more]

Nothing to see here as Obi Wan would say. Just posting this to remind myself that drawing in the dark {while my son sleeps} is not really the best idea… :p

Decided to practise drawing leaves on Sunday afternoon when it was very wet!

Another attempt to capture some more flowers in my garden!

What a nice way to spend a rainy day! I love the variety of leaves. (All from your backyard? Looks like we have many of the same plants!) And some good drawing there! I especially like the ivy and geranium leaves. This is a great page. You are getting practice with embossing and creating cast shadows. It’s the kind of page that will help you get…[Read more]

This is a nice page Marilyn! I think most of the flowers and the poppy seed heads could use more dark toning. The seed heads could use it to enhance their form (they could use more saturation too!). Even tough the anemone is white it still needs toning on the petal overlaps, etc.

This is a charming drawing! It is sketchy in lovely way. I enjoy looking at it! You have a good value range and nice cylindrical shapes. You also have a good sense of light on form and how to loosely indicate textures. My one issue with it is the cast shadows. The sketchiness on the twigs works. You have followed their directional lines and it…[Read more]

Thank you for looking. I hope I understood everything well, my English is not that good and I often have to translate with Google. Unfortunately, the camera reproduces the drawing harder than it really is. It’s not that bad in the original, but I see what you mean. I don’t really know how to do it better, though. The shadow can’t go completely,…[Read more]

Hi Petra, Much better! Nice soft shadow. And as for the question about sketchy Botanical Artists, because botanical art or illustration comes from an origin that is scientifically based, the correct and clear depiction of the subject is preferred. i.e. not sketchy. However, you are the artist and your goals regarding your work ultimately are your…[Read more]

I just sent a sketchy drawing of peppers up to my portfolio and notice I could have taken my own advice concerning scratchy cast shadows.

Hi Clo, Another challenging specimen! Some nice drawing here, especially the drawing on the front petal. I like the curl and the rippled edges. But I do think that petal could be bigger overall. The back petals are a bit oversized in comparison. You’ve done such a good job on that petal, I want it to be more prominent. I mentioned in my critique…[Read more]

Thanks Katy for your help. To add warmer tones, what should color would you suggest using for the shadow? It does appear green on the flower, but looks grayish on the drawing.

I’d try a warm yellow, dark cadmium yellow may work incorporated into your key color. Also try different greens for your grisaille.