To read about the meaning behind this drawing or the specific symbolism of each flower, visit this blog post.
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Today I'll show the last few step-by-step process photos for completing this 19"x25" drawing, "Race Bouquet (Stronger Together)."
The peruvian lily was a fun plant to work on, because it had some interesting colors and details. I used red, orange, pink, yellow-orange, white, and black for the petals (black for the centers and for the spots present on the lighter, yellow-ish petals), and three shades of green for the leaves and stems.
Hopping back over to the left side of the bouquet, I next worked on the coneflowers. These were difficult, in that coneflowers are typically brighter in color, with yellow or purple petals. The cone-shaped centers are really the part of the plant that best mimic skin tone, and therefore they were the part that I wanted to play up the most. For those coneflowers that I did give thin petals to, I tried to keep the petals small and close to the color of the cone-like centers, even if that wasn't perhaps the most biologically realistic choice.
Another issue was getting the coneflowers light enough to be distinguishable from the black paper background, while also keep them fairly dark. For other dark plants, I tried to keep them toward the center of the bouquet so that wouldn't be as much of a problem - but it wasn't realistic to have all of the darker flowers in the center, so some of them had to be towards the outside, touching the black background.
I used dark brown, medium brown, black, white, two shades of dark yellow/yellow-orange, and two shades of pink for the flowers. The stems and leaves added another two colors with two different shades of green.
Next I did the small trio of brown asters. Again, these are often brighter colors in nature, including their most well-known color - purple. To keep them closer to skin tone pigments, I made these particular asters browner. The petals are made up of dark brown, medium brown, "pumpkin orange" and light tan for the highlights, with yellow/pale yellow centers. The stems were made with two shades of green.
Next, I worked on the brown hibiscus flower. This was another dark bloom that would be at the edge of the bouquet, so I compromised by making the edges of the petals much lighter, to define the edges of the hibiscus against the black paper, while keeping the shadows as dark as possible.
I used pale pink for the highlights, red, yellow/orange, and pale yellow for the center and the flower's stamen, and two shades of brown, a darker yellow-tan, and black for the shadows. The leaves were done with two shades of green.
Going back to the right side of the bouquet, there are only two flowers left! For the second to last flower, the lotus, I used an undertone of light green, pale yellow, and gray, which I then blended over with two shades of pink, two shades of brown, and three shades of yellow/yellow-orange. I went over the center with yellow, added the dots to the center with dark brown, and added a bit of pure white for the highlights.
Instead of jumping right into the last flower, at this point I stopped to work on the vase a little. I added some more reflections with white colored pencil, added a bit of color to show some of the flowers that might be reflected in the glass vase, and added quite a few stems and leaves - though subtly, so they wouldn't be 100% visible. In a real glass vase, the stems might fade into the black background a bit, so that's what I tried to do here, too - especially since I wanted the focus to be not on the vase, but the flowers above it.
Finally, I tackled the branch of cherry blossoms, using white, pale peach, peach, two shades of pink, dark red, dark brown, and black. The branch was done in brown, while the black pencil was used to help define some of the ultra-white tiny stamen rising from the centers of the cherry blossoms.
I also colored in the large leaf next to the lotus plant, using three shades of green, blue, and a dark yellow colored pencil.
And now my drawing is complete! Check back tomorrow from some final photos of the entire drawing together.
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Today I'll show the last few step-by-step process photos for completing this 19"x25" drawing, "Race Bouquet (Stronger Together)."
The peruvian lily was a fun plant to work on, because it had some interesting colors and details. I used red, orange, pink, yellow-orange, white, and black for the petals (black for the centers and for the spots present on the lighter, yellow-ish petals), and three shades of green for the leaves and stems.
Hopping back over to the left side of the bouquet, I next worked on the coneflowers. These were difficult, in that coneflowers are typically brighter in color, with yellow or purple petals. The cone-shaped centers are really the part of the plant that best mimic skin tone, and therefore they were the part that I wanted to play up the most. For those coneflowers that I did give thin petals to, I tried to keep the petals small and close to the color of the cone-like centers, even if that wasn't perhaps the most biologically realistic choice.
Another issue was getting the coneflowers light enough to be distinguishable from the black paper background, while also keep them fairly dark. For other dark plants, I tried to keep them toward the center of the bouquet so that wouldn't be as much of a problem - but it wasn't realistic to have all of the darker flowers in the center, so some of them had to be towards the outside, touching the black background.
I used dark brown, medium brown, black, white, two shades of dark yellow/yellow-orange, and two shades of pink for the flowers. The stems and leaves added another two colors with two different shades of green.
Next I did the small trio of brown asters. Again, these are often brighter colors in nature, including their most well-known color - purple. To keep them closer to skin tone pigments, I made these particular asters browner. The petals are made up of dark brown, medium brown, "pumpkin orange" and light tan for the highlights, with yellow/pale yellow centers. The stems were made with two shades of green.
Next, I worked on the brown hibiscus flower. This was another dark bloom that would be at the edge of the bouquet, so I compromised by making the edges of the petals much lighter, to define the edges of the hibiscus against the black paper, while keeping the shadows as dark as possible.
I used pale pink for the highlights, red, yellow/orange, and pale yellow for the center and the flower's stamen, and two shades of brown, a darker yellow-tan, and black for the shadows. The leaves were done with two shades of green.
Going back to the right side of the bouquet, there are only two flowers left! For the second to last flower, the lotus, I used an undertone of light green, pale yellow, and gray, which I then blended over with two shades of pink, two shades of brown, and three shades of yellow/yellow-orange. I went over the center with yellow, added the dots to the center with dark brown, and added a bit of pure white for the highlights.
Instead of jumping right into the last flower, at this point I stopped to work on the vase a little. I added some more reflections with white colored pencil, added a bit of color to show some of the flowers that might be reflected in the glass vase, and added quite a few stems and leaves - though subtly, so they wouldn't be 100% visible. In a real glass vase, the stems might fade into the black background a bit, so that's what I tried to do here, too - especially since I wanted the focus to be not on the vase, but the flowers above it.
Finally, I tackled the branch of cherry blossoms, using white, pale peach, peach, two shades of pink, dark red, dark brown, and black. The branch was done in brown, while the black pencil was used to help define some of the ultra-white tiny stamen rising from the centers of the cherry blossoms.
I also colored in the large leaf next to the lotus plant, using three shades of green, blue, and a dark yellow colored pencil.
And now my drawing is complete! Check back tomorrow from some final photos of the entire drawing together.
