More Magnolias

Spending some time working on my Magnolia project.

The small drawing, 5x7 on pastel board is becoming saturated. It will take a little burnishing to get the details to work on it.

Work is coming along, but photographing that work is giving me trouble. It is overcast and cloudy, so getting a good shot is difficult, even in the sunroom! I have tried it with a flash, but you know how it drains artwork.


I really try to use as close to natural light as I can so people seeing the artwork can get a feel for what the piece really looks like. But on a cloudy day that is not really going to happen. If the piece was finished, I would wait, but I am going to keep working on it, and wanted to get it at this stage of work. Hopefully you get the feel for what is happening with both drawings.

Drawing as of 12-8-13

The large piece, 16 x 20 is taking a lot of pencil! Good thing I ordered a half dozen white pencils from Dick Blicks! I really did not want to use watercolor as an underpainting on this one, but wanted the green of the mat board to remain pure. Isn't happening! but I keep cleaning up the background.

Getting all the shades of grey and yellow on this one is going to be a real challenge. Drawing white flowers is much more complicated than the casual observer would imagine.



Detail

I am also finding the detail of what will be the seed cone a challenge. It is so pale and there is so much detail. Most people look at the large petals and overlook the nectar rich cone of the flower. As the individual areas mature and "bloom" the cone seems to unpeel. Each of those green things is a nectar tube which will get fertilized and produce a bright red seed in the fall.