Activity

On Lesson 26 I was unsure how to follow the grid on the top of the apple. On Lesson 27 I found the flow of the pattern on the top of the apple a little easier to follow without the grid. On Lesson 28 I found the video difficult to follow, I didn’t understand how to create the wrinkles in the pedal. Is there a better example?

Hi Denise- I think watching and working thru Lesson 34: drawing a ribbon and especially Lesson 38: advanced ribbon will help you create folds (hills and valleys) and apply the concept to your petal. If you have Wendy’s book, “ The Joy of Botanical Drawing”, check out pages 142-144 which is a visual and written step by step guide to creating cross…[Read more]

The pattern you started to create on the apple is looking very good. The colors are nice and the positioning of the pattern is correct and is placed just as I would expect it to be!

Really nice feather Denise! The addition of a fairly strong highlight (because onion skins are often shiny) on the onion skin would really make it look realistic. However, your colors and patterning look great! Really nice color selection and saturation on all the subjects!

Hi Doug, Once again thank you for the feedback and direction. I do own a copy of Wendy’s book, the apple example answers my questions and I will attempt this again. I also found examples of overlaps and ribbons and I’m sure I will find Lesson 34 and 38 helpful as well. Thank you do very much, Denise

Love the composition Ishbel! You don’t see mountain ash on the east coast anymore because of the ash disease. From the image on the post, it is a little hard to read the leaves below the berries. The three leaves in the center that hang down are getting lost. I think they need more definition to separate them from the leaves behind them. D…[Read more]

I also love the composition and beautiful colors!

Agreeing with the above. We had a mountain ash in my childhood home and I always loved the orange berries. You captured them beautifully.

Thanks – I’ll work a bit more on the leaves and repost!

Hi, I tried to replicate the shading and toning from your example. Again, I erased and improved (hopefully) my current drawing. Let me know if its better to start fresh…

It definitely now reads as cylinders placed on top of each other, which was the goal. I am glad my sketch helped!

Hi Doug, The milkweed is pinker on this photo and also on the original drawing. This is Asclepias speciosa or Showy Milkweed and this specimen was taken in S-W Alberta in a protected native grass area. I wanted to draw the plant but could not pick it and set it up with the right lighting. I also used different photos to fit the drawing on the…[Read more]

I erased and tried to implement your suggestions. Let me know if I should start over with a new drawing….

It is looking better Margaret! Look at Sara’s yellow plum and it’s reflected light. When doing a reflected light, it often helps to use an ivory pencil (or yellow ocher, depending on the color of the subject) on top to blend colors in the reflected light area. You can blend the ivory up into the dark toning above it and create the soft, irr…[Read more]

It does make sense. I did use a lot of Ivory. I will keep trying and study other examples. Thank you for your feedback.

Margaret, I made a little drawing of how I go about my cast shadows. @doug-milne, will you check it over to make sure I’m not suggesting any bad habits?

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A quick sketch I did to use for reference. Note how the shadows cast by the overlapping cylinders are curved. They are curved because it is a cylinder crossing over another cylinder. Not two flat subjects crossing over each other. Also note how the shadow casts are only on one side of a cylinder when they cross. The cylinder that is being crossed…[Read more]

This is very helpful with understanding the shadows. I will try again.

Thank you Doug, I also find this helpful and will try again with a lighted model made with pencils or chopsticks as you suggested.