"Ability Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - In Progress 6

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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I'm in the middle of going back through this bouquet, flower by flower, and adding layers of color and detail. The thirteenth flower I worked on was this cluster of pink geraniums, using dark red, magenta, pink, coral, cream, white, light yellow-green, green, dark green, and black colored pencils.

On the other side of the wilting white roses, I added in this yellow Lady's Mantle - a drying, browning herb. I used black, brown, yellow, white, green and dark green colored pencils for this small clump of decaying flowers.

Next, I worked on these tiny yarrow flowers, using white, light blue, blue, lime green, yellow, and black.

To the right of the yarrow, I drew in these purple heliotropes. I used three shades of purple, three shades of green, and black.

On the left side of the bouquet is this mullein plant, with early signs of browning/damage. I used white, yellow, orange, brown, and dark red, as well as three shades of green, to finish up this flower.

Below is flower #18, meaning that I am 3/4 of the way through this final bouquet. For these pink lupine flowers, I used green, yellow, white, pink, and red colored pencils.

Check back for my next blog post, which will feature "in progress" shots of finishing up the last six flowers.

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

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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My last post looked at how I sketched in the first 12 flowers in my initial black paper drawing layer. Today, I have some photos to show of the last 12 flowers.

These browned/dried tansy flowers were drawn in on the right side of the bouquet:

Underneath, I drew these cherry blossoms:

This yarrow plant went in next, followed by some purple heliotrope:

I added in these pink lupine stalks and yellow daffodils next:

On the left side of the bouquet, I sketched in some browning yellow mullein and orange marigold flowers:

This wilted hollyhock stalk was added in over on the right side, as was a clump of dandelions:

Finally, I added the last two flowers to the bottom. White lilac and chamomile:

After the first sketch, the drawing now looks like this:

The next steps include going back over each flower individually with more pencils, building up layers of detail and dimension, and blending colors to achieve the desired look. Final touches will be added to the glass vase at the bottom, and then this final 19x25" drawing will be complete!