I love the brilliance of Fall colors. Since I live in a predominantly green part of the world, the introduction of red, orange and gold adds a much needed zing to the landscape. Fall has always been a favorite time to whip out the paints and revel in all the lovely earth tones. But just this week I discovered a new Autumn subject – something interesting to draw that I’ve never thought of before, thanks to one of my students. She’d been drawing a tree for a homework assignment and brought in leaves from the tree that she was trying to draw. Because a couple days had passed, the leaves had dried to a crisp and were starting to curl. How fascinating, I thought. Here was nature’s art in a new form. The next day on my walk I picked up several damp vine maple leaves. Sure enough after a day in the house, they started curling. Just right for drawing,
Using a 005 Micron pen, I started with an outline over a light pencil sketch that placed it on the page. When the basic line drawing was compete I began to work my way around the leaf adding shadow area, often placing a tone with lines first, then adding more detail to each section. Notice that I did not concern myself with the discolorations on the leaf, simple areas of light and dark. Finally I added the shadow underneath using a more even application of vertical lines to indicate the flatness of the table it was resting on.
Who knows why we’re drawn to certain subjects? For some reason right now I am intrigued by these crisp rolling leaves and curlicue shapes. Perhaps it’s simply a new challenge. What new thing will you try today?
Love to Draw 