"Gender Bouquet (Stronger Together)" - In Process 4

To read about gender terminology and why gender is a spectrum, 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.

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My new 19"x25" colored pencil drawing has already been sketched out onto black paper - meaning that it's now time to start adding in details and layering up the color!

I did this step-by-step, focusing on one plant at a time (out of the two dozen total plants). Today's post will share pictures of the first six flowers I worked on in this way, building up layers of colored pencil to add detail and dimensionality.

I started on the left side of the drawing, where the eight pink flowers are. First, I colored in the hollyhock on the far left. For the petals I used white, two shades of light pink, a darker magenta pink, and red and brown pencils for the shadows. I used three shades of green for the stem and leaves.

Next, I worked on the pink geraniums. I used two shades of light pink, magenta, and red for the petals, and then two shades of green on the leaves.

I moved on to the light pink lupine flowers next. I used a light yellow-green, white, two tints of light pink, light peach, and magenta colored pencils.

Next to the lupine flowers are the hibiscus, with similar hues. I used white, light peach, light pink, magenta, red, and two shades of green.

From the light pink flowers, I moved on to the dark pink ones. Here is the snapdragon, created using three shades of green, two shades of red, and light pink and magenta pencils.

For the dahlia bloom, I used two shades of green, a light pink pencil, a reddish pink pencil, a dark red, and a dark purple.

Here is the whole drawing so far, with the first six flowers completed:

Check back tomorrow for step-by-step photos of the next six flowers! 

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

To read about gender terminology and why gender is a spectrum, 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.

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In yesterday's post, I showed how I sketched in the first dozen flowers. Today I'll focus on the last dozen.

Keep in mind that this is just the first layer - the lightly sketching in of each plant, so that I can get the whole drawing down on paper. Then, I will go through and work individually more on each flower, building up layers of color, dimensionality, and detail.

I had four pink flowers still to draw, so I tackled those first. Here are the geraniums and hollyhock:

I next did the last two pink flowers - the dark pink/almost red dahlia, and a couple stalks of snapdragon flowers, in a similar color scheme.

Over to the right of the purple flowers, I added the two pale blue flowers - lithodora and sweet pea.

Next, I sketched in the blue anemone flowers and a bunch of blue azalea.

At the bottom of the bouquet, near the dark purple pansies, I drew in a blue hydrangea plant and a trio of blue cornflowers (aka bachelor buttons).

Finally, I sketched in the dark blue lotus and delphinium.

Here is the first layer finished. You can see how I plan to get the whole spectrum of color between pink (dark and pale pink) and blue (dark and pale blue), with plenty of purple (again, dark and pale purple) in between.

As with my "Race Bouquet," I also added in a vase for the flowers to set in. I added handles to this vase, so it's more of a glass urn or pitcher than the vase in the previous drawing.

I used 13 colors just to get the preliminary sketch down. More colors will be used as I start building up more colors! Check back for future posts to see how this drawing progresses.

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

To read about gender terminology and why gender is a spectrum, 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.

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Once I completed my research, decided on which flowers to use, and came up with a plan for the composition of the bouquet, I moved on to the black paper and began drawing. I used Prismacolor brand pencils and Canson Mi-Teintes paper, size 19x25 inches.

I started by sketching in the purple chrysanthemums and lavender sprigs in the center of the bouquet.

Then I drew in the iris and pansies, to create a vertical line of purple flowers down the center of the bouquet. The chrysanthemum and lavender will be pale purple, while the iris and pansies will be darker.

I next added the two pinkish purple flowers to the left - a large peony bloom, and a trio of protea flowers.

To the right of those first purple flowers, I drew the two blueish-purple plants - African violet and a small bunch of carnations.

I added in the pale pink flowers next - lupine and hibiscus.

Below them, I sketched in two gerbera daisies and amaryllis flowers.

These are the first dozen flowers. My next post will show how I sketched in the last dozen (the remaining four pink flowers, as well as the eight blue flowers). After the entire composition is lightly sketched in, I will go back over with more layers of color, building up dimension and detail to make these plants vibrant against the black paper.