"28 Years" - Year #25

For general information about this 22"x30" colored pencil drawing, see this blog post.
For more information about the flower symbolism I used (Years 15-28) and life events that led me to select those particular flowers, see this blog post.

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I chose purple carnations and four o'clock flowers to symbolize my 25th year.

• Purple Carnation: symbol of capriciousness, whimsy, changeable natures, and unreliability
• Four o'clock Flower (Marvel of Peru): symbol of timidity, afternoon, and nighttime beauty

First, I drew outlines of the plants on black paper:

I used these two botanical illustrations as reference while I worked (I do not own these images; I found them on Google):

I lightly shaded in the colors I would use for this drawing, and then erased my graphite outline.

Then I started using more depth of color, varying the pressure I used with the colored pencils to get more saturated colors. I finished the carnation first.

Then I focused on the stems and leaves of the four o'clock flowers.

I finished up with the different colored petals of the four o'clock flowers.

Here is the entire drawing so far. Just three more sections to go, and all twenty eight years will be complete!