"Class Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - Finished

Another 19"x25" colored pencil bouquet drawing is now complete for my "Stronger Together" series! There's just one more left to do ("Ability Bouquet").

If you're interested, you can check out the other completed bouquet drawings here:

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

The fifth drawing is called "Class Bouquet" and it uses two-dozen flowers to symbolize the different social classes. America is made up of very poor people, very rich people, and everyone in between. It is important that we acknowledge all of these people - and help those that need assistance, remembering that we're all human and deserve equal respect.

Here is the finished drawing, which uses a general yellow-pink-white-green color scheme, with hints of orange, red, and purple.

I used a total of 26 colored pencils for this drawing (fewer than I've used for some of the others in this series!). Many of them were shades of green, red/pink, and neutrals (black, white, cream, and browns), though I also used a lot of the single yellow colored pencil for all those yellow flowers, as well as a few shades of blue, purple, and orange/peach.

Here are some details of the entire drawing:

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 capitalism and the disparity between the rich and the poor, please read this blog post. For some interesting things to consider about the intersectionality of class, 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 hibiscus, hollyhock, bells of Ireland, sunflowers, French honeysuckle, and dandelions ("In Progress 4")
• Adding detail and dimension to the lupine, blackthorn, cactus, myrtle, tansy, and marigold ("In Progress 5")
• Adding detail and dimension to the kingcup, peony, carnations, coronella dahlia, clematis, and orchids ("In Progress 6")
• Adding detail and dimension to the angrec, lettuce, thyme, trumpet flowers, edelweiss, and poppies ("In Progress 7")

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

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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It's time to finish up this colored pencil drawing! Today's blog post will focus on the step-by-step process of completing the last six plants.

For these white angrec flowers, I used seven colored pencils - black, blue, two shades of green, yellow-green, cream, and white.

Though not a flower per se, lettuce is considered part of the "language of flowers" and has symbolism attributed to it ("never give up"). For this small bunch of lettuce, I used the colors black, blue, three shades of green, yellow-green, and white.

For the thyme flowers, I used red-violet, light purple, blue, green, light green, and white colored pencils.

These orange trumpet flowers were colored in with white, peach, magenta, red, and orange - with yellow-green used for the viney leaves and stems.

These edelweiss were finished with white, yellow-green, light green, medium green, dark green, medium blue, and black pencils.

Only one flower left! For these bright poppies, I used two shades of green, white, cream, three shades of red, and black.

I also added some color and dimension to the vase, to give it the appearance of glass. Check back in a couple days to see the final blog post - pictures of the entire finished "Class Bouquet" drawing!

"Class Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - In Progress 3

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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Earlier this week, I posted "in progress" photos of the first twelve flowers being lightly sketched onto black paper. Today, I'll be finishing up the sketch with the last twelve flowers. Once the whole bouquet is sketched in, I'll be able to move on to adding in more layers of color, dimension, and detail, and putting the other final touches on the drawing.

Here is the sketch of the purple lupine stalks:

Next to that, I added in a few yellow sunflowers:

Off to the left side, next to the hibiscus I'd already drawn, I added in some bells of Ireland.

Filling out the top of the bouquet is this red/pink hollyhock plant:

At this point, I went back to the bottom of the drawing and starting sketching up from where the vase would go in. Here is the green lettuce, which will be just peeking out over the lip of the vase:

On the right side of the vase is a group of red poppies:

Next I added in some purple thyme:

And some orange trumpet flowers:

A stretch of white evergreen clematis flowers was sketched in next:

Followed by a symmetrical stripe of pink orchids on the right side of the bouquet:

There are only two plants left to sketch in. These edelweiss flowers on the right side:

And white angrec on the left side:

Here is the drawing so far, with the first step sketch complete (other than the vase, which is still only a graphite outline):

The next step is start going through and adding more color, building up layers of colored pencil pigment until I get the saturated, bright colors I want.

"Sexuality Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - Finished

I have six drawings planned out for this series, and finishing this latest one means I'm officially halfway done!

(If you're interested, you can check out my first 19"x25" bouquet drawing - "Race Bouquet" - at this blog post. Or the second one - "Gender Bouquet" - over here.)

The third colored pencil drawing is called "Sexuality Bouquet," and it uses a rainbow of colors to show the beautiful bouquet that is created when all people identifying as/experiencing different aspects of human sexuality are included equally. I mean for this to include people who have little or no sexual desire and those who crave it all the time, people who yearn for only physical intimacy and those who find fulfillment in emotional intimacy or long-term relationships, people experienced in a wide variety of sexual behaviors and those who are not, and of course people at all places in the LGBTQIA spectrum.

Below are some photos of the completed drawing, along with the 39 Prismacolor pencils I used. The paper is black Canson MiTeintes.

Here's a couple detail shots:

You can really see the difference in vase size looking back at these last three drawings side by side. The bouquets and vases both started getting fatter. I think I'll return to a skinnier vase for my next drawing.

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 terminology related to sexuality, and why I decided to include many aspects of sexuality (and not just sexual orientation) in planning and executing this drawing, visit this blog post. To read about the idea behind this colored pencil drawing and an explanation for the symbolism of the specific flowers used, check out this one.

To see "the making of" photos of this drawing, visit these other blog posts:

• 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, poppies, amaryllis, protea, gerbera daisies, and roses ("In Progress 4")
• Adding detail and dimension to the zinnia, lilies, peony, gladiolus, crocus, and hydrangea ("In Progress 5")
• Adding detail and dimension to the chrysanthemum, daffodils, freesia, sunflower, forget-me-nots, and delphinium ("In Progress 6")
• Adding detail and dimension to the cornflower, sweet pea, anthurium, succulents, hellebore, and button poms ("In Progress 7")

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

When I say this drawing is a celebration of differences in sexuality, I'm including differences in libido, sexual behaviors, frequency, desire, willful abstinence, asexuality, sexual orientation, and relationships. For more discussion on sexuality (and definitions of related terminology), please visit this blog post.

For a description of the specific symbolism of the 24 flowers used in this drawing, check out this blog post.

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I've finished the planning and preliminary sketches, and I've lightly drawn all the flowers on the black paper. Now it's time to really have some fun with color!

Once again, I started in the red section - this time with the red tulips in the upper left of the bouquet. I used pink for the highlights, three shades of red, and a magenta colored pencil. For the bright green stems and leaves, I used two shades of yellow-green and a light bluish-green.

Then I worked on the red poppies. One of my Prismacolor pencils is actually called "Poppy Red" so I had to use that one! I also used another shade of red, a red-violet, and black. For the stems, I used two shades of green and a pale blue for highlights.

I worked on the red amaryllis next. Because it was right next to the orange section, I threw a little orange in to these flowers to help blend it into the next part of the color wheel a bit. I used two red pencils, one orange pencil, and a pale peach for the flowers, with two green colored pencils being used for the leaves. (That contraption you see at the bottom of the orange pencil is a pencil extender. The pencil's almost gone, and it can be hard to hold the little pencil stubs and get an accurate drawing, so they make pencil extenders to fit your little stubs into so you can hold them easier.)

The final red flower is this pink-red protea. I used two red pencils, three pink pencils, white, and two shades of green.

Here's the red section! Just five more color sections to go.

The first flowers I worked on in the orange section were these two gerbera daisies. I used pink, red, orange, yellow-orange, and black colored pencils to get all the shades in these pretty petals.

Then I moved onto the orange roses. I used peach for the highlights, two shades of orange, and two shades of red for the shadows.

Those are the first six flowers complete! My next post will look at the next six flowers I drew.