I took the reference photo for this drawing in early autumn before the leaves changed color. The leaves were in beautiful lighting but dangling over ground ivy, which I had no interest in drawing. When I looked through my photos, I kept returning to this shot because the leaves were so pretty. So, I tried cropping out the ivy, and my muse started jumping up and down, getting very excited over the composition. I said, “But it’s all stems!” And my muse said, “I don’t care; draw it anyway!” I listen to my muse, and that’s how this drawing came to be.
As usual, I am using Mars Lumograph pencils on Arches hotpress watercolor paper. I can create deep black and delicate light hatching on Arches paper, and the Mars Lumograph pencil quality is always excellent.
Even though it doesn’t look like it, I’m starting this drawing in the upper left-hand corner. I’m drawing this rotated sideways because that’s how the reference photo fits on my iPad. I prefer to draw with the reference on my iPad instead of from a printed version. With my nose right up next to the screen and my glasses off, I’m in nearsighted nirvana.
When I start a drawing, I always take a moment to look at the reference photo and identify the areas with the lightest and darkest values. Then, I examine the corner where I intend to draw and estimate the main value of that area relative to the darkest and lightest values in the reference. I go through all that to work up the courage to lay down the first hatching, which may or may not be the correct value. But it’s tradition, and it gets me started.
Once I have made some hatching on the paper and have something real to work with, my nervousness settles down, and I begin comparing and evaluating as I draw merrily along.
In my world, comparison and evaluation are the two workhorses of observational drawing. You compare what you draw to what you see and evaluate whether to keep or modify any details.
I had to modify the leaf in the upper right corner because it was wet and had some reflections. None of the other leaves are as wet, so I edited this single leaf to make it look dry.
I used 2H and 4H pencils to hatch the values in the large leaves along the edge. I love to make the shading transitions smooth for a realistic leaf texture or ‘wash’ look. The values may not be exactly right, but I will go with them as they are for now.
It’s challenging to hatch small leaves to the right value when there are many of them, like those under the big stem. To pin down values and save time, I mark each leaf with the pencil grade I will hatch it with. That way, I only have to figure out what value it will be once.
Using H and F pencils, I hatched in the smaller and darker leaves around the large central stem. I used B and 2B pencils for the darkest leaves in this area. Although my values aren’t exact, I like the developing depth of range I see.
I’m drawing the leaf in the bottom right-hand corner with 2H and 4H pencils. It’s a very light leaf with light details. Applying a thin, gradated graphite layer over a large area requires patience. There are no shortcuts to doing this. I wish there were. Creating a light, smooth hatch is done by keeping the pencil point in one position in your hand for as long as possible. Rotating the pencil point may create darker hatch lines.
The leaf has some challenging details, such as veins and a tear. The veins are tiny, but I can erase them from the graphite hatch with the tip of my electric eraser that I’ve sharpened to a fine point by spinning it on paper.
This leaf also has darker, smudgy details that appear perpendicularly along the vein lines. I draw these with a 4H pencil and an extremely light touch since they are only about a quarter step darker than the rest of the leaf.
Switching gears to draw the dark leaves under the central stem, I experiment with finding the right combination of pencils to draw the dark values of those leaves. A soft and hard pencil combination works best. The softer pencil layer goes on first, and the harder layer goes on last to smooth out and darken the hatching of the first layer.
This piece has me comparing, analyzing, and worrying over every mark I make. The problem is that I have two sets of leaves: the dark leaves nested in the middle of the drawing under the central stem and the leaves around the border. As I draw a leaf’s value, I compare it to the leaves in its set, and also the leaves in the other set. That’s a lot of comparing, and sometimes it feels like I’m trying to find a single solution that satisfies two demanding guests. I’m working from the color version of the reference photo, which I think has more depth than the grayscale version.
I’m layering my H and 2H pencils to create the values for the leaf on the top left-hand side of the drawing. It’s slow going because I don’t want to overshoot my values and have to erase. I draw around all the veins but must touch them up with the electric eraser. Even though I can make a thin line with the electric eraser, it’s still too thick, so I have to ‘whittle’ it back down to size with a sharp lead. Then, I usually darken the vein just a little using a hard lead.
After much weeping and denial, I’ve finally accepted that I’ve drawn the big leaf at the bottom right too lightly. At least parts of it are too light. Sigh. I’m going to have to redraw it.
Since I had trouble drawing a leaf the right value, and I’ve been working from a color reference photo, I’ve decided to switch to a grayscale reference photo. It’s helped a lot. So, I’ll be using the grayscale photo to finish the drawing.
I mentioned that I could see more depth in the color version of the reference photo, and this may be true, but any depth lost will be more than made up for by the correct values gained by using a grayscale reference.
I know this will sound odd, but I’ve always felt that using grayscale references was cheating. If I drew from nature, I’d draw from color. But I don’t draw from nature. I use a camera, Photoshop, a computer, and an iPad to ‘see’ the images I draw from. So, it’s silly to hang on to this concept of a color reference being more ‘pure’ than a grayscale reference.
This will probably seem like a small thing to you, but I am fussing over one last detail. I can’t decide whether to leave some ivy detail in the bottom left corner edge or edit it out of the drawing. My detail-loving side says, “Leave it in because it’s natural and a bit of nature’s touch.” My perfectionistic side says, “Take it out because it’s distracting.” My perfectionistic side won the argument, and now the drawing has an unspoiled edge.
Now that this piece is drawn, the light leaves at the bottom make it look out of balance. I’ve darkened two leaves at the bottom left to help correct this problem, but it still looks a little top-heavy. I don’t think this spoils the drawing. The composition is interesting, and I can see why my muse was excited to draw it, but if I could change things, I’d give more weight to the bottom of the drawing.
Keep drawing everyone,
Carol
Reference Photo
