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 feels part of the texture, but when it gets to the shadows on the smooth surface of the table, the sketchiness doesn’t make sense and is distracting. Especially the jagged edges in the foreground. Botanical illustration generally asks for a more controlled drawing, but I’m a sucker for a charming sketch. Good job.
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, can it? Maybe I don’t have enough patience for well-crafted botanical drawings. Are there “serious” botanical artists who always draw in a sketchy manner? 🙂
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 own. So sketch away, if that pleases you. I find I have the same issues. Before I began with botanical art, my work was much sketchier…and I liked it…still do. However, I also like that I have developed the skills to depict a botanical subject in a way that is quite controlled and tightly rendered, as well as being very readable from a scientific point of view. Moreover the skills I have developed for this type of work have informed and enhanced my more more sketchy style. I’ll include one of my sketchier drawing in my portfolio, so you can compare my styles.
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 feels part of the texture, but when it gets to the shadows on the smooth surface of the table, the sketchiness doesn’t make sense and is distracting. Especially the jagged edges in the foreground. Botanical illustration generally asks for a more controlled drawing, but I’m a sucker for a charming sketch. Good job.
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, can it? Maybe I don’t have enough patience for well-crafted botanical drawings. Are there “serious” botanical artists who always draw in a sketchy manner? 🙂
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 own. So sketch away, if that pleases you. I find I have the same issues. Before I began with botanical art, my work was much sketchier…and I liked it…still do. However, I also like that I have developed the skills to depict a botanical subject in a way that is quite controlled and tightly rendered, as well as being very readable from a scientific point of view. Moreover the skills I have developed for this type of work have informed and enhanced my more more sketchy style. I’ll include one of my sketchier drawing in my portfolio, so you can compare my styles.
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.