Flower Attribute Notecards - Blue & Green Set

As mentioned, I have several new notecard variety packs available in my Etsy shop, including new designs from my "Flower Attribute" series. Today's blog post is featuring the "Blue & Green" set, which includes scans from the 10 colored pencil drawings I've completed on blue or green paper.

The ten designs included in this notecard set are:

• Flight (Birds of Paradise) on blue paper
• Playfulness (Hyacinth) on blue paper
• Immortality (Acanthus) on blue paper
• Whimsy (Carnation) on blue paper
• Creativity (Dahlia) on blue paper
• Faith (Iris) on blue paper
• Hope (Button Poms) on green paper
• Transformation (King Protea) on green paper
• Wealth (Astroemeria) on green paper
• Luck (Bells of Ireland) on green paper

Love the style of these notecards, but wish you could swap out a few for other floral designs I have? I also have a U-Pick listing where you can mix-and-match among all my floral colored pencil design and color options and build the perfect stationery set for your preferences!

"Immortality" Colored Pencil Drawing

This colored pencil drawing was created with Prismacolor brand pencils on Canson Mi-Teintes blue paper. I just love the texture the Canson Mi-Teintes paper has, and how it makes colored pencil drawings look!

The flowers in this drawing are acanthus flowers, which symbolize (among other things) immortality. These flowers were popular in Ancient Greece, with the leaves/tops of the acanthus stalks acting as the basis for the design of the Corinthian style architectural column.

For this drawing, I started (as I often do) with a light sketch. Using a picture of acanthus I found on Google as a source material, I used basic shapes of light color to place the acanthus stalks where I wanted them to be in my composition.

Once all the stalks were lightly sketched in, I started going through and one by one adding in more detail and dimension.

By the end, I used 8 different colors of pencils: white, light pink, magenta, dark purple, black, light green, dark green, and light blue. The flower petals themselves were made mostly with white, light pink, and light blue (with pink and blue shading in the shadowed parts), with some details added in with lines of darker purple. The stalks were light green, dark green, and black. And the leaves were a blend of both greens, all 3 pinks/purples, and the occasional white on the very tips.

Here is the finished drawing, which I signed and dated at the bottom:

Look for this drawing for sale in my Etsy store soon!

"Ability Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - Finished

And so my "Stronger Together" series is complete! Six 19"x25" colored pencil drawings on black paper, each symbolizing a system of privilege/oppression. You can check out the first five completed drawings here:

• Race Bouquet (this post)
• Gender Bouquet (this post)
• Sexuality Bouquet (this post)
• Religion Bouquet (this post)
• Class Bouquet (this post)

This final drawing is called "Ability Bouquet" and it uses two dozen flowers to symbolize differences in physical, emotional, and mental ability. We all have different limitations, skills, and talents, and should work to respect and accommodate everyone so that we can better work together.

Here is the finished drawing:

I used a total of 29 colored pencils for this drawing, in shades of green, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, and blue. I also used neutrals like brown, black, tan, and white.

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

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To read about the "ability umbrella" - the aspects of ability I was looking to include in this symbolic bouquet - please read this blog post. To read about the relatedly interesting correlation between creativity and mental health, visit this one.

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 tulips, anemone, flannel flowers, acanthus, crocus, and succulents ("In Progress 4")
• Adding detail and dimension to the dahlia, tansy, hellebore, roses, aloe, and cherry blossoms ("In Progress 5")
• Adding detail and dimension to the geraniums, lady's mantle, yarrow, heliotrope, mullein, and lupine ("In Progress 6")
• Adding detail and dimension to the marigold, daffodils, white lilac, orchids, chamomile, and dandelions ("In Progress 7")

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

This drawing uses flowers to symbolize the wide variety of different physical, emotional, and mental abilities humans might have, as a way to show how we are better and stronger together when we are willing to help each other out.

To read about "the ability umbrella" - what exactly I mean when I talk about differences in ability - please visit this blog post.

To read about the symbolism of each flower used in this bouquet drawing, visit this blog post.

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Once my initial sketch of the composition on black paper was finished, I could back and start adding layers of color and detail, flower by flower.

I started in the upper left corner, with this bunch of pink tulip buds. I used red, two shades of pink, white, yellow, and three shades of green to color in these young flowers.

Next to the youthful tulips, I worked on the dying cluster of pink anemones. The stems are browning and the petals wilting. I used two blue pencils, two green pencils, black, brown, light tan, and two pink colored pencils on the anemones.

These browning/damaged flannel flowers came next. I used indigo blue, black, and brown to make markings on the petals for rips, tears, or deep shadows. Altogether I used black, indigo blue, dark green, light yellow-green, yellow, light tan, white, brown, and dark red.

These acanthus in the top right corner are also in the process of dying and drying out. The stems are brown or off-color yellow-green, the purple petals have taken on a darker magenta color, and the petals are drooping. I used black, dark brown, dark red, light brown, light tan, white, magenta, light purple, and yellow-green colored pencils for this flower.

Next I worked on these bright, healthy crocuses, which exude cheerfulness and springtime. I used white, orange, yellow, and dark red colored pencils for the petals, and three shades of green for the stems and leaves.

The sixth plant I worked on is this cluster of hen and chick succulents. I used dark red, two pink pencils, dark yellow, white, three green pencils, and black to shade in the colorful pink-green gradients on each petal.

The first half-dozen flowers are now complete. My next three posts will each focus on the next set of six, until the entire drawing is finished!

"Ability Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - In Progress 2

This drawing uses flowers to symbolize the wide variety of different physical, emotional, and mental abilities humans might have, as a way to show how we are better and stronger together when we are willing to help each other out.

To read about "the ability umbrella" - what exactly I mean when I talk about differences in ability - please visit this blog post.

To read about the symbolism of each flower used in this bouquet drawing, visit this blog post.

**

Like my other drawings in this "Stronger Together" series, I used black Canson Mi-Teintes paper and Prismacolor brand pencils. Once I had my composition planned on newsprint, I lightly sketched in each flower on the black paper.

I started with the pink dahlia, somewhat in the top-center of the drawing.

Next to the dahlia, I added little yellow crocus buds and a clump of hen and chick succulents:

Some wilted pink anemones went in next:

Followed by some flannel flowers:

These pink tulip buds are in the top left of the bouquet:

On the other side, I sketched in some acanthus, with yellowing stems and leaves to signify a bit of aging:

The large aloe plant went in next:

Underneath the pink dahlia, I added a clump of browning lady's mantle and a bunch of wilting white roses:

The eleventh and twelfth flowers I drew in were these purplish blue hellebore and pink geraniums:

Here is the initial layer, halfway complete:

My next blog post will finish up this initial sketch of the last twelve flowers. Then, once all of the flowers are in place, I'll go through with more colored pencils and add layers of color, dimension, and detail.