"Religion Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - Finished

I've finished another of my 19"x25" colored pencil drawings in this "Stronger Together" series! I have two more planned - Class and Ability. (If you're interested, you can check out the other three I've completed: Race - at this blog post, Gender - at this one, or Sexuality - at this post.)

This newly completed one is called "Religion Bouquet." The two-dozen flowers I chose for this bouquet are all symbolically used or associated with a modern or ancient religion (including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Wicca, various Native American religions, and/or Greek/Roman mythology), or else symbolize Atheism, Humanism, or Science, to be inclusive of non-religious people who are often left out of discussions on religious tolerance.

Here is the finished drawing, which uses a general yellow-purple-red-white color scheme, with hints of oranges and greens:

And here is the original plan, sketched out on newsprint, next to the final drawing on black paper:

I used 28 different colored pencils, ranging from warm reds, oranges, and browns, to cool purples, blues, and greens, as well as sunny yellows and high-contrast white and black.

This is not yet available for sale, but I will probably list it (and the others to-come in this series) in my Etsy shop at the end of the year.

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To read about religious discrimination, and why I think it persists in being a problem in the United States, I invite you to read this blog post. I've also recently written posts on the Separation of Church and State and a call for secularism, as well as a post in defense of Atheism, which you can read at the links above.

To read about the idea behind this colored pencil drawing and an explanation for the symbolism of the specific flowers used, check out this post.

To see "the making of" photos of this drawing, please visit these:

• Preliminary sketches ("In Progress 1")
• Drawing and lightly coloring in the first 12 flowers ("In Progress 2")
• Drawing and lightly coloring in the last 12 flowers ("In Progress 3")
• Adding detail and dimension to the ti leaves, cattails, enchanter's nightshade, violets, plumeria, and black-eyed susans ("In Progress 4")
• Adding detail and dimension to the holly, tulips, lychnis, morning glories, pomegranate, and acanthus ("In Progress 5")
• Adding detail and dimension to the amaranthus, birds of paradise, orchids, irises, lilies, and zinnia ("In Progress 6")
• Adding detail and dimension to the lotus, daffodils, gladiolus, sage, jasmine, and roses ("In Progress 7")

"Religion Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - In Progress 7

To read about religious discrimination and why tolerance of people of all religions (and non-religions) is so important, visit this blog post.

To read about the religious symbolism of the 24 flowers used in this drawing, go back to this blog post.

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This is the last "in progress" post for this religion-themed bouquet drawing. Only six more flowers to go until the entire piece is complete!

This purple lotus was drawn with white, lavender, purple, blue, light blue, green, yellow, pink, magenta, and dark purple colored pencils:

Below the lotus, I drew a couple of daffodils. I used white, cream, yellow, bright green, apple green, brown, orange, and black pencils:

Next, I worked on the yellow gladiolus, which used a similar color scheme as the daffodils, but slightly fewer colors. I used white, yellow, orange, black, and two shades of green:

This sage herb was colored in with cream, light green, green, brown, orange, lavender, and light purple:

I blended some red into these otherwise white jasmine to give them some depth - and because they'll be next to the red roses, which would probably reflect some red onto the white jasmine petals in real life. So for the jasmine, I used black, red, dark red, green, yellow, cream, and white:

Finally, I got to the last flower in this bouquet - a trio of red roses. I used three shades of red, two shades of green, and a cream colored pencil for the highlights:

Now all that's left to complete is the glass vase holding the bouquet. My next post will show the completed photos of the whole drawing, so make sure you visit this blog again to see how it all turned out!

"Religion Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - In Progress 6

To read about religious discrimination and why tolerance of people of all religions (and non-religions) is so important, visit this blog post.

To read about the religious symbolism of the 24 flowers used in this drawing, go back to this blog post.

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My drawing is now halfway complete! Today's post will outline the next six flowers I worked on, as I continued to go through the bouquet flower-by-flower.

This amaranthus (love lies bleeding) is on the left side of the bouquet, underneath the plumeria. I used two shades of green for the leaves, and pink, cream, and two shades of red for the flowers:

In the middle of the bouquet, just under the pomegranante, is this vibrant display of birds of paradise. I used nearly every color of the rainbow for this one - magenta, red, orange, white, yellow, green, dark green, blue, and two purple pencils:

These orchids were colored in with blue-violet, red-violet, magenta, lavender gray, pink, red, and dark red:

Back on the other side, I added color and detail to the purple irises with white, lavender, purple, magenta, brown, yellow, green, blue, and black pencils:

Next to the irises, I drew this white lily, surrounded by small lily buds. I used white, orange, yellow, black, and two green colored pencils:

The eighteenth flower in this bouquet are these orange zinnia. I used white, black, magenta, orange, and yellow, as well as two shades of green for the stems:

Only six more flowers, and the glass vase, to finish up before this 19"x25" is complete!

"Religion Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - In Progress 5

To read about religious discrimination and why tolerance of people of all religions (and non-religions) is so important, visit this blog post.

To read about the religious symbolism of the 24 flowers used in this drawing, go back to this blog post.

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For the next six flowers in this bouquet, I used the same basic process that I used for the first six - building up layers with different colored pencils to add dimensionality and detail to the flowers, and to help increase the contrast between the bright, vibrant colors and the dark paper.

I worked on the holly plant next, nestled between the black-eyed susans and enchanter's nightshade. For the holly, I used two pink, white, black, two red colored pencils, and three green pencils:

Over the right side of the bouquet, I used white, three purple pencils, three magenta/pink pencils, and three green pencils to complete this bunch of purple tulips:

For the lychnis flowers, I used three shades of green, two shades of red, and pink, black, and white:

Back on the left side of the bouquet, I worked on these purple morning glories. I used white, yellow, blue-violet, purple, and magenta pencils, as well as three shades of green for the leaves and stems:

This large pomegranate flower and its duo of budding fruits was drawn in with green, white, yellow, orange, and three different shades of red:

Then, I worked on the acanthus, the twelfth flower in this bouquet - and therefore the halfway point. I used red, red-violet, pink, white, two different light purple pencils, and one green colored pencil for the stem:

Here is how the entire bouquet looks, with half of the flowers complete:

Next, I'll continue to add color to the bottom half of the bouquet - and the vase at the bottom.

"Religion Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - In Progress 4

To read about religious discrimination and why tolerance of people of all religions (and non-religions) is so important, visit this blog post.

To read about the religious symbolism of the 24 flowers used in this drawing, go back to this blog post.

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The initial sketch of my "Religion Bouquet" drawing is complete on the 19"x25" black Canson Mi-Teintes paper - which means it's time to start going through and building up layers of color and detail, flower by flower.

Today's post is going to show the first six flowers that I worked on during this second go-round, starting with the ti leaves at the top. For these large ti leaves, I used three shades of red and five shades of green:

Just to the left of these, I worked on the bunch of cattails. I used two brown colored pencils, three green pencils, yellow, and cream:

To the right of the ti leaves is a sprig of enchanter's nightshade, an herb with tiny white blooms. I used a light green pencil, white, brown, red, and a pink colored pencil for this plant:

Back on the left side of the bouquet, I used three shades of green, three shades of purple, one pink, one magenta, one blue-violet, and one cream pencil to color in the violets:

Below the violets, I'd sketched in a bunch of plumeria. I colored these in with dark green, bright green, white, cream, yellow, orange, and brown:

And for this quartet of black-eyed susans, I used black, pumpkin orange, orange, yellow, cream, white, and bright green colored pencils:

Here's what the entire drawing looks like so far, with the first six completed. You can also see in this picture where the rest of the flowers are sketched in lightly, ready and waiting for more color to help them stand out against the black paper.

Check back again soon for more posts - and more pictures!