Until the Water Falls: Rose with a Hint of Purple

Monday, September 21, 2015

Rose with a Hint of Purple

Yesterday I showed my step-by-step process for creating a 5"x7" colored pencil drawing "Rose with a Hint of Aqua." Because that one went so well, I decided to make a companion piece with the same process. I think they'd look great together in a room!

Two Colored Pencil Drawings by Andrea Arbit

Below you can see the finished product with my source photograph. Once again, I used a photo I'd taken at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, which I'd adjusted in Photoshop to be black/white monochromatic.

"Rose with a Hint of Purple" - 5"x7" Colored Pencil Drawing by Andrea Arbit

To start the drawing, I measured where the 5"x7" "boundaries" of the drawing would be. Then, focusing not on the lines but on the shapes in the source photograph, I colored in the white parts of the drawing.

Step 1: White Colored Pencil
"Rose with a Hint of Purple" - 5"x7" Colored Pencil Drawing by Andrea Arbit

Then, I turned to the shadows and colored in the black shapes of the drawing.

Step 2: Black Colored Pencil
"Rose with a Hint of Purple" - 5"x7" Colored Pencil Drawing by Andrea Arbit

So that it would match the coloring of the previous colored pencil drawing, I also added dark brown to the shadows.

Step 3: Dark Brown Colored Pencil
"Rose with a Hint of Purple" - 5"x7" Colored Pencil Drawing by Andrea Arbit

Finally, I added some purple to the flower. I chose a color that would go well with the aqua highlights used in the previous drawing. (Also, purple and aqua are two of my absolute favorite colors. So the choice of purple was really a no-brainer for me.)