Thursday, May 11, 2006

Peonies



I gave a workshop/lecture to a garden club this week. I had cooked some herbal tid-bits, provided herbs as well as a slide show. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it!

A few members brought these gloriously-spicy scented peonies ~! I had a most difficult time capturing the loose petals, the WHITE tinged with yellow, shadows, and the 'moppiness' of them.

I sketched my first attempt with pencil and ink -- and then tried a few white/yellow/grey/blue washes. I found it too harsh.

Then I sketched the same flower but first putting down some wc washes, and then adding a more delicate pencil line. I think I like this best - though it seems a bit 'light' to me.

5 comments:

Linda said...

This is great! I always think it is too bad that peonies don't bloom for a longer period of time -- I could spend 6 months drawing them, they are so complex!

Terri said...

Wonderful subtle colour Lin. This is beautiful.

Marilyn said...

These are really quite good. You are so good about trying different ways if you are not satisfied with the first attempt. I really like all your nature (flora and fauna) depictions.

Tami said...

White on white paper is tough! You did a PERFECT job of capturing their loose softness. BEAUTIFUL!

Linda T said...

I love the quality of the line in both of these. They are really nice.