I’ve returned to Monhegan Island, Maine and I vowed to do way more drawing than the challenge of doing at least five (or was it eight?) finished artworks before the season ended. Taking what I’ve learned from experience last year, I packed light on the art gear, settling only for my pouch containing my tools (Tombow pencils, erasers, sharpeners, etc.) and an art journal I bought last year.
After settling into my dorm room for the season, I hiked around the island, looking for my next subject. I might have mentioned that I wanted to draw another plant or flower after making my personal drawing, so that was the subject I hunted for. I settled on a pair of tulips near a freshly painted house.
Drawing both would be tricky since I didn’t have much room to work with besides what the art journal’s pages provided, so I decided to draw one tulip flower.
As usual, I started with the outline of the flower. I used my 4H pencil for the outline as that was sharpened recently and it had a much lighter touch on the paper. I also decided to work on it outside just for a change of scenery. It was windy and cold though!
Once the outline was completed, I began shading in the details of the flower. I started with the stem since that was the easiest area. This took only a few minutes to finish and I made sure to hold the journal away from me to get a better look.
The flower itself, however, was tricky because of how light would hit certain spots of the tulip’s petals while other spots were covered in shadow. I had to get the shading right while also adding in the tiny details of the petals, but the middle petal left me a little frustrated. So I decided to do a slight personal twist and managed to finish shading the flower before bed last night.
Oh, I forgot. I used my B, 2B, and 3B pencils for the highlights and shadows.
This drawing took only five days for me to finish (that’s pretty fast for someone like me who draws when I have the time and energy) and I think it turned out great! I think it has a somewhat glassy look on the petals.
I’ll do another subject soon, but I need to sharpen my pencils again and get some rest. My summer job requires me there six days out of the week, so I’ll see if I can squeeze in time to draw again.
le fleur artsy 