Long Leaf Pine Cone Study - Three for the Sketch of One by Linda C. Miller

A few months ago I finished two drawings, one in Graphite and the other in Pen and Ink of a Long Leaf Pine Cone.

Pine cones have this wonderful spiraling pattern know as the Fibonacci Number-- which means that as the cone grows -- each ring will be made up of segments that equal a number from adding the last two segment numbers from the previous two rings.  For example the first ring is one - so the next ring is one plus one, which equals two.  The following ring is one plus two which equals three, then two plus three, which equals five.  This also occurs in the sunflower disk, pineapples, artichokes, thistles and may other wonders in nature!

To create the two studies, I first completed a detailed Contour Drawing (outline) which took two hours to finish.  Now having the drawing, I transfered it to a piece of Transfer Paper and created a graphite transfer by simply rubbing a 2B pencil on the back side. 

Now armed with my Tranfer Pattern Template, I can easily lay down the wonderful detailed drawing on my artist quality paper.  This simple step allows you to make any additional changes, but saves the sizing on the paper from too much erasing.

I also started a watercolor painting too - three works for the sketch of one!

Linda C. Miller  - Williamsburg, Virginia USA