About a week ago, I completed this quick 8"x10" drawing, influenced by one of the photographs I took of our new white poinsettia plant. (I say "quick" because it took considerably less time than my massive 22"x30" colored pencil drawing "30 Days" - but it still took about 2-3 hours from start to finish, so it wasn't exactly a super quick sketch, either.)
I used Prismacolor pencils on Strathmore toned tan paper.
First I drew an outline with graphite pencil.
Then I went around the whole drawing, erasing the graphite lines as I no longer needed them, and filling in the outline with light shades of four colored pencils - a dark brown, a medium brown, a pale yellow, and a light white-green for highlights. I also added a fifth color (dark green) as I went around in this initial layer and ran into the green leaves of the poinsettia plant.
Once I had this first layer down, it was time to start adding the fun stuff - details and contrast to really make the drawing unique. I started by going over the leaves with that dark green pencil again, adding in some dark blue as well.
I also added in some sea-green into the shadows on the leaves that were more greenish in tone.
Then I added some orange into places where the shadows were warmer.
I used a pure white to really bring out the highlights of the plant.
I debated for a while at this point where I wanted to be done with the drawing or not. It looked a lot like the photograph, and I was happy with it. But it also seemed too light-colored to me, as well as too "neutral" and I ultimately (after taking some time to sleep on it and consider the possibilities) decided to work on it for another hour or so, really punching up the contrast even further, and adding in more colors to make the plant "more" than just a drawing of a white poinsettia.
I added in purple and red into the warmer shadows, added more brown/tan in a few places, and used a black colored pencil to darken the dark areas even further. It made it look more cartoonish, perhaps - with the blacker outlines around some of the leaves - but I don't think it detracted too much from the realism. It just made the poinsettia realism-plus, and added melodrama to the drawing. :)
And there is the finished piece!
I wanted to create a specifically winter-themed drawing so that I can scan this drawing in and make holiday cards out of it to sell at PCCA, on Etsy, or at other places next holiday season. I love how colorful it turned out!
I used Prismacolor pencils on Strathmore toned tan paper.
First I drew an outline with graphite pencil.
Then I went around the whole drawing, erasing the graphite lines as I no longer needed them, and filling in the outline with light shades of four colored pencils - a dark brown, a medium brown, a pale yellow, and a light white-green for highlights. I also added a fifth color (dark green) as I went around in this initial layer and ran into the green leaves of the poinsettia plant.
Once I had this first layer down, it was time to start adding the fun stuff - details and contrast to really make the drawing unique. I started by going over the leaves with that dark green pencil again, adding in some dark blue as well.
I also added in some sea-green into the shadows on the leaves that were more greenish in tone.
Then I added some orange into places where the shadows were warmer.
I used a pure white to really bring out the highlights of the plant.
I debated for a while at this point where I wanted to be done with the drawing or not. It looked a lot like the photograph, and I was happy with it. But it also seemed too light-colored to me, as well as too "neutral" and I ultimately (after taking some time to sleep on it and consider the possibilities) decided to work on it for another hour or so, really punching up the contrast even further, and adding in more colors to make the plant "more" than just a drawing of a white poinsettia.
I added in purple and red into the warmer shadows, added more brown/tan in a few places, and used a black colored pencil to darken the dark areas even further. It made it look more cartoonish, perhaps - with the blacker outlines around some of the leaves - but I don't think it detracted too much from the realism. It just made the poinsettia realism-plus, and added melodrama to the drawing. :)
And there is the finished piece!
I wanted to create a specifically winter-themed drawing so that I can scan this drawing in and make holiday cards out of it to sell at PCCA, on Etsy, or at other places next holiday season. I love how colorful it turned out!
No comments:
Post a Comment