Muscari - Drawing 7

I picked and brought inside some Muscari which is blooming in my perennial garden.  I took some photographs, then selected and drew three.  Two days later, I used colored pencils to create this study. I like the way the flowers and stems look, but the leaves need more work. I was working in my dining room with natural light and the lighting changed several times. The shading isn't quite complete on the leaves.

Here are a few of the photos and the drawing in progress.

Mastering the Art of Colored Pencil

I am enrolled in this four week course which is offered by the Connecticut Natural Science Illustrators. Over the past two weeks I have spent time in the studio doing these homework assignments. It is challenging and definitely beneficial.

Create a Color Wheel with our pencils

using at least 3 colors, match the paper swatch

create spheres with different color schemes

draw and color shell

Garden Songbirds Set 4 Completed

Back in February I began another set of collage backgrounds for the Garden Songbird Silhouette series I was working on. I finally had the opportunity to finish this set.

Evokes Springtime, don't you agree?

 

These are available for sale. Contact me via email or visit my Etsy site. Both links are to the right hand side.

 

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Thank you to those of you who sent your words of comfort and for your prayers. It has been a long, hectic, emotion-filled 9 days! Finally get back into the swing of things and catching up on all that suddenly needs to be done.

Unexpected Passing

My mother in law passed away suddenly yesterday. It was, and is, a huge shock to us all. Spending time with family this week, so won't be posting for a while.

Viola tricolor - Flower Drawing 6

I didn't take into account when I set out to do this project of photographing and drawing a different flower each week, that it might be difficult to locate live specimens. In a few months, I will have so many flowers to choose from, the hardest part will be deciding on one. Right now, however, not much is blooming and it is still quite chilly to be outside sketching and photographing those that are! The flower shops are a source. That is where my daughter bought the orchid and I bought the cut daffodils. But looking recently, I am not finding any that strike my fancy. For now, I will use photographs as references for drawing.

Another thought that occurred to me is that choosing a different flower each week prevents me from delving deeper into the multiple facets of some flowers. For instance, there is so much more to explore on the orchid. I do have a limited amount of time in which to complete these exercises each week. Maybe it is more realistic to entitle this project 52 Flower Drawings: A Year in Bloom. That way I can continue to work with a particular flower until I feel I have exhausted the possibilities.

Here is the sketch for this week. I would like to do a cluster of these cute Heart's Ease or Johnny Jump Ups, the way they grow in the garden (similar to the photo below.)

Heartsease - Viola tricolor

from Wikimedia Commons

Visual Journals Workshop

some of my students and me

Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching an introductory workshop on creating visual journals. This particular workshop focused on using them for prayer, praise and bible study. Eight women signed up for the class and we had a wonderful time together!

To see more photos, visit my Facebook Page here.

I spent most of last week preparing for this workshop so did not have time to photograph or draw a flower for my 52 Flowers - A Year in Bloom project.

Narcissus - Week 2 of A Year in Bloom

Photography lessons learned this week:

Lesson 1 On creating an interesting photograph
The setting in which the subject is placed is as important as the subject itself. Here I began photographing the vintage blue Ball jar with daffodils in isolation. I love the color combinations. It is rather boring as a photograph though.

Placing the jar of daffodils among other items gives the viewer a sense of place, a sense of scale and is just more interesting overall.

Do you agree?

Lesson 2 Lighting
These photos were shot at 7:30 a.m. on a cloudy morning. No interior lights were on. I was fully expecting the photos to be really dark. Surprisingly, they are not. The natural light, though it was low, was enough. The shutter speed was set to auto so I don't know what the selected ISO was. Probably 800. There is a slight blurriness to the photo because of camera shake while the shutter was open. I think I prefer this lighting to that of a sunny day. I know for next time to set up the tripod to shoot in this light.

Lesson 3 Keep Experimenting
I moved the flowers to my studio where I have a combination of fluorescent lights -  regular daylight and Verilux. I placed a large piece of white mat board behind the flowers and took many close up photos. I really like the results!

Lesson 4 Create a Filter

I was using a magnifying glass while sketching the daffodils. I decided to try it as a macro lens. It was pretty tricky trying to hold the magnifying glass in one hand and the camera in the other AND press the button! It may not have worked as a macro lens, but it did seem to provide a softer look as one might achieve with a filter.  I LOVE how these photos turned out! I should look for one of those old fashioned magnifying lenses on a stand.

This week's drawings

 Another week of other stuff to do. Didn't have as much time to devote to drawing as I would have liked. When the daffodils are blooming in my yard, I will draw them again to have several sketches to work from when I want to do a finished piece.