Saturday, March 5, 2011

Hen-and-Chicks III-Vickie Henderson

Here is the final sketchbook spread.  It's not much different than what you saw in my last post.  However, I learned much while on this journey.
What you see above includes additional shading in the rosette to the right, and an exploration of shapes in the sketch to the left, most of them scrubbed away.  I discovered that when I added more definition to the group of flowers to the left the overall effect was much too busy.
So I scrubbed the area to reclaim its softness.  I lost some of the freshness in the process, but gained a lot of valuable information for future reference.  Below you see the original sketch I created on the patio, on the left, the final sketch, on the right.  I enjoyed seeing this comparison.
More images of this process can be found in Brother's Plant--Part III on Vickie's Sketchbook.  Click the following links to find Hen-and-Chicks part one and part two on Sketching in Nature.  

7 comments:

  1. Hi Vickie, you are very brave to scrub away what you have already painted, don't think I would have th courage. Love the wet in wet

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  2. A lovely sketch - I especially like the large, painted rosette on the right-hand page. The way you have reserved those little lights around the edges of some of the leaves is beautiful and really gives depth.

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  3. Hi Phil. The term scrub isn't a good description of what happens. I actually use the scrub brush to wet the area with a lifting stroke then dab away the color with tissue. Wet, lift, blot. Not so scary this way. Knowing your paper helps too. This is Arches coldpress 90# paper.

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  4. Marancat, thank you. I enjoyed creating those rosettes. The plant has fuzz around the outside of the leaf that catches the light and gives the appearance of white along the edges.

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  5. Nice progress. Scrubbing, or dabbing is vital sometimes; I like your term "busy", sometimes detail kills the idea. Its also a fantastic way to convey fuzziness.

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  6. Bellissimo sketch Vickie !!I admire a lot who is not imprisoned of the details as me, very beautiful!

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