See also my photo of setup, just submitted. This is the drawing page completed thus far. I’m not pleased at all with the branch as drawn. At the bottom the curve is to the left, horizontally. But nearing the top, that side branch with the bud is actually coming out of the paper toward the viewer, and slightly in front of the plane holding the main branch. My sketch doesn’t show that. It doesn’t show the main branch going slightly back and the lesser branch with bud coming forward. I reworked this drawing a lot using darker on bud/branch to bring it forward, and lighter on main branch as it goes back, but nothing was satisfactory. Bottom right sketch is my large thumbnail, in dark sepia. Color mixing and textures as noted. This branch is very gray, even though buds are a dark reddish yellow ochre, per pencil choices. Still no watercolor yet. Thanks for your input.
10 January 2020
Mary, I think there are a few things you could try: 1. First, really measure your branch accurately. I can see that the buds in your drawing are much smaller than they are on the branch. 2. Work on the places where the smaller branches connect to the larger one. There are some small details there that will help you show what’s happening there more accurately, and I think that will also help you show the direction and depth of the smaller branch as well. 3. Work on the texture and details. I like the test swatch you made on the left that shows the surface of the branch. You can also add some texture to the edges of the branch as well, so they don’t look so smooth. 4. Depth. To achieve this depth, I would do the opposite of what you did. Dark colors recede and light colors come forward, so I would make the main branch a bit darker and the smaller one slightly lighter. You could even make the smaller one gradually go from dark where it is close to the main branch, to light near the bud at the top. You could also really show this depth more if you added a cast shadow. I would position the light a little differently if you decide to do this, so that the shadow from the bud-branch is a little less dramatic. Hope that helps. Great work so far!
See also my photo of setup, just submitted. This is the drawing page completed thus far. I’m not pleased at all with the branch as drawn. At the bottom the curve is to the left, horizontally. But nearing the top, that side branch with the bud is actually coming out of the paper toward the viewer, and slightly in front of the plane holding the main branch. My sketch doesn’t show that. It doesn’t show the main branch going slightly back and the lesser branch with bud coming forward. I reworked this drawing a lot using darker on bud/branch to bring it forward, and lighter on main branch as it goes back, but nothing was satisfactory. Bottom right sketch is my large thumbnail, in dark sepia. Color mixing and textures as noted. This branch is very gray, even though buds are a dark reddish yellow ochre, per pencil choices. Still no watercolor yet. Thanks for your input.
Mary, I think there are a few things you could try: 1. First, really measure your branch accurately. I can see that the buds in your drawing are much smaller than they are on the branch. 2. Work on the places where the smaller branches connect to the larger one. There are some small details there that will help you show what’s happening there more accurately, and I think that will also help you show the direction and depth of the smaller branch as well. 3. Work on the texture and details. I like the test swatch you made on the left that shows the surface of the branch. You can also add some texture to the edges of the branch as well, so they don’t look so smooth. 4. Depth. To achieve this depth, I would do the opposite of what you did. Dark colors recede and light colors come forward, so I would make the main branch a bit darker and the smaller one slightly lighter. You could even make the smaller one gradually go from dark where it is close to the main branch, to light near the bud at the top. You could also really show this depth more if you added a cast shadow. I would position the light a little differently if you decide to do this, so that the shadow from the bud-branch is a little less dramatic. Hope that helps. Great work so far!
Thanks for all, will get back to the drawing board.