This is an intermediate drawing lesson aimed at those familiar with using a brush for applying graphite for shading or for those who want to practice learning how. As usual, I’m giving you two photo choices to draw from: color and grayscale. The color version fools the eye. The purple makes the tip of each petal look dark. However, when the photo is converted to grayscale, the tips of the petals no longer look dark. So, if you choose to draw from the color version of the photo, you will have a challenging drawing experience. I’m going to draw from the grayscale photo. If you are a beginner, I suggest you draw from the grayscale photo, too.
You can make your line drawing by eye, grid, or tracing. I’m going to trace my line drawing because it saves time.
This drawing lesson uses a #2 blending brush to apply graphite to the petals for the base shading. You can make your own blending brush with a few simple tools.
I used these supplies in my drawing:
Strathmore 400 series Drawing Paper, Medium Surface
B, HB, 2H, 4H pencils
Kneaded eraser
#2 Blending Brush
Battery-Powered Eraser
Mono Zero Eraser (Round)
X-acto Knife to trim the Mono Zero Eraser into a point.
The Line Drawing – Please don’t make your line drawing as dark as mine. I made mine dark so you could see it. Your line drawing should be just dark enough to see. I’m showing you my line drawing so you can see which lines I included.
First Stamens – I tapped my line drawing with a kneaded eraser to lighten it. Since tracings are imperfect, I added details to the line drawing that the tracing missed. I also corrected some lines I didn’t transfer properly during the tracing.
The flower’s stamens are the most challenging part of this drawing because it’s a small area packed with tiny details. I drew the center part of the stamens by brushing it with a small blending brush until it darkened slightly. Then, I used a battery-powered eraser to lift out small round detail spots. Working with the marks from the tracing, I added to the outside ring of the stamens with a 4H pencil.
Completed Stamens – I completed the outside ring of stamens with observational drawing using a 4H pencil and a Mono Zero Eraser, the tip of which I’d trimmed into a finer point. With observational drawing, you quickly move your eyes back and forth from the subject to the drawing, comparing them and correcting any differences. This eye movement becomes easier with practice, and you can superimpose the subject over the drawing if you move your eyes quickly enough. This allows you to draw with more accuracy.
When drawing the stamens, I relied heavily on the details I had drawn as landmarks to help place new details. Those first details helped keep the drawing in proportion, too.
First Petals – Since the right side of the petals is the focal point, I started shading on the left side to give myself some time to experiment and learn how to shade the petals best.
First, I gently tapped the petal I chose to draw with a kneaded eraser to lighten its lines, and then I lightly applied graphite with a brush loaded with graphite. I “loaded” my brush with graphite by running it back and forth over a hatch I made with a B pencil.
I followed a shadow pattern on the petal that was darker in some areas and lighter in others. Then, I added detail lines with a sharp 4H pencil and erased thin texture lines with a kneaded eraser that I’d pinched into a thin wedge shape. The brushed graphite I applied to the petal had darkened the stamens, so I carefully erased inside them with the battery-powered eraser.
Shading Rhythm – Since the stamens were almost too small to erase with the battery-powered eraser, I hatched the area around them with the 4H pencil instead of using the brush this time. Shading the petals has a rhythm now. I hatch around the stamens, brush in the main petal values, draw the details, and lightly outline the petal. Of course, there are more steps than that, but that’s the general formula.
I’m fighting against my tendency to draw the petals lighter than they are. The problem is that the brushed graphite is much easier to lay down than remove, so I hold back on it too much. This leads to trouble since you can’t just brush on more after drawing a leaf, or you’ll blur the details.
Deeper Shadows – The two brightest petals are on the right side of the flower. I’ve decided to leave their lightest value paper white, although it is a light gray. By doing that, I’ve created a wider value range on the petals, adding extra dimension.
I’ve added a 2H pencil to the palette because the values are darker in the right half of the flower petals. The shading sequence is the same; I’ve just added a softer pencil to the mix. The last petal in the right quadrant is graceful and beautiful as it arcs into space. It also has the darkest body value of any of the petals. My eye wants to normalize this lone petal, and I’m having trouble drawing the value dark enough. I must push myself to add more graphite.
Sharp Edges and the Stem – The two petals on the bottom half of the flower are blurry along the edge. I can draw the edges in focus because I have drawn the other petals and know how the edges are supposed to look. I drew the dark value around the stamens using an HB pencil. The stem was drawn by hatching the right side with a B pencil, hatching the left side with an HB pencil, and then blending the hatches together with a brush.
Happy drawing,
Carol
