Natures Bounty- Part 2

Here's where I left off in my previous post:

Here is where I am now:

This is about three hours into it so far. I've found the coldpress watercolor paper, which gave such a lovely texture to the bark, is working against me now that I'm really getting into the details of the foliage. It's not so much the paper as it is the Graphitint I'm using for the slight hint of color in this piece. Because of the tint of color in the Graphitint pencil, the lead is much softer than I'd recommend for paper this rough. But hey, I like a challenge! I do think I'm going to back off a little on the color and use it only for larger leaves and blades of grass in the foreground. I'll have to trust that my reliable 2b mechanical pencil and a lot of patience

will get me the results I'm looking for.

Now that I'm into the details of the foliage, I'm using a bit of imagination and the negative drawing technique.

I have some basic leaf and grass shapes laid out for placement based on the reference photo. As I go I'm imagining where I want other blades of grass and leaves to be then I'm blocking in the space around them. Mike Sibley's book, "Drawing from Line to Life" is an excellent reference for drawing foliage and negative drawing. (Here is his site address: http://www.sibleyfineart.com/.) I've also laid out the basic tone on another large section of bark. I will go back in later to add the texture details of the bark.

For now, my focus is on the foliage in the lower left corner. I've been scooting along with confidence until now. I've reached my first, "oh crap, I'm never going to get this right" creative barrier. I go through this, usually more than once, with just about every piece I do.

One thing I've found is that a single reference photograph will only take you so far. I recommend having multiple photo references when possible, but even more importantly, study your subject in "real life". So I think it's time for me to step away, do some study sketches and reference Mike's book for a refresher on drawing foliage.

Part Three coming soon!.

Copyright 2009 Sarah D. Salisbury. Unauthorized use is prohibited.