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

This colored pencil drawing uses flower symbolism to represent the entire spectrum of social class from poverty to wealth and everything in between.

To read about capitalism and the growing disparity between the lower and upper classes, visit this blog post.

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

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I've already finished the first layer of this bouquet on my 19x25" black Canson Mi-Teintes paper, putting down the light sketch and working out where all of the flowers will go. Now, it's time to start building up more color, detail, and dimension by working through each flower one-by-one.

I started with the yellow hibiscus in the upper left corner. I used seven colored pencils for this small group of tropical flowers - black, two shades of green, red, magenta, yellow, and cream.

Next, I finished up the pink hollyhock stalk, using a white colored pencil, pink, two shades of red, yellow, yellow-green, green, and black.

In between those first two flowers is a group of bells of Ireland. I used three shades of green for this interesting shaped plant, as well as a white colored pencil for highlights and a black colored pencil for shadows and to define edges.

To the right of the hollyhock, I worked on the sunflowers. I used three shades of green, yellow, cream, white, orange, brown, and black colored pencils to complete these cheery flowers.

Back on the left side of the bouquet, I used two shades of red colored pencils, pink, white, and two shades of green, to draw in the French honeysuckle plant.

For the the sixth flower - a group of dandelions - I used black, brown, orange, tan, yellow, white, and green pencils.

I'm now a quarter of the way done with this "building up layers of color" stage. Only 18 more flowers (and a vase) to complete, and another one of these bouquet drawings will be finished!

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

This colored pencil drawing uses flower symbolism to represent the entire spectrum of social class from poverty to wealth and everything in between.

To read about capitalism and the growing disparity between the lower and upper classes, visit this blog post.

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

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As is typical with these 19x25 colored pencil drawings, I first planned out the composition for this second-to-last drawing on newsprint. Once that plan was in place, it was time to move on and lightly sketch the flowers onto black paper. Today's blog post will look at the first dozen flowers, and the initial sketches I did on black paper as I started to slowly build up the bouquet.

I started with the pink and green flowering cactus in the middle of the drawing:

Then added yellow kingcups below that:

And marigolds:

And yellow carnations off to the right:

Above the cactus went in a clump of dandelions:

These white blossoms are blackthorn flowers:

Over on the left side of the drawing, I added in yellow tansy:

While the orange coronella dahlia went in on the right side:

Next, I sketched in a duet of pale pink peonies:

Filling out the left side, I added in some white myrtle flowers:

Pink French honeysuckle were drawn in above the myrtle:

And finally, in the upper left corner, I sketched in some yellow hibiscus:

This is half of the bouquet sketched in. Check back again in a few days for another blog post on the next twelve flowers. Then, once everything is sketched in, I'll start going over with more color, adding dimension and detail throughout the bouquet.

Boston Flower Photos

Last month, at the beginning of June, my husband and I flew out to Boston for a long weekend. It was our friend's wedding, and a bunch of other friends were also in town. Several of us shared a vrbo (vacation rental home), and it was a ton of fun.

I took a lot of pictures while I was there - of the wedding itself, but also of Harvard, the Museum of Science, the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, historic buildings in the Boston area, sea lions at the aquarium, sunsets over the Charles, and kitschy shops and the witchhunt memorial in nearby Salem, MA.

I also (of course) took photos of flowers when the opportunity arose. There was a gorgeous little garden outside of our vrbo house, as well as some pretty flowers we passed here and there among our long Boston walks. The pictures below are from the house and from just walking around - with the last few pictures being taken at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, an art museum with a garden courtyard in the center.

This pretty arrangement was hanging on either side of the arch at the outdoor wedding ceremony. The bridesmaids had matching bouquets.

At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum