Flower Foray

Flower within a Flower

Hi there! Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. :) Been working on some personal projects and just living life as per normal. But this Sunday I worked on a digital flower drawing, trying to get in some practice and trying to use the different brush textures to my advantage. I started with a simple pencil sketch, to get down the layout of the work, then took the gouache brush and went in to fill in the shading for the image. This would give me a better idea of the shape and form of the work. After that, I selected the brush that would give me the desired texture and I began filling in the colour. At first, it didn't seem like much. Sometimes when I start a work, I know immediately that it's going to be a success. But for this work, I wasn't so sure, however, I felt I needed to just trust the process and not get frustrated that I wasn't getting the desired effect that I would get, were I to use traditional mediums like watercolour. I had chosen the carbon stick brush, because I wanted to create a soft pastel look. That seems to work really well for flowers and was great for blending! Before I began colouring, I had chosen the palette I would use. I chose about 5 main colours, and utilised their different shades to create depth in my work. The process was slow and unsure at first, but as I buckled down and focused, I found it slowly coming together. I was pleased with my colour selection, and just kept reminding my self to keep it simple. I think one of the pitfalls of many young artists, like myself, is that we tend to over complicate things. We have lots of drive and imagination, but sometimes we need to reel it in to make it really come together and be more palatable. That's what I tried to do with this piece, and I think it paid off somewhat. :D

Lessons learned from working on this piece:

1. Keep it simple (focus your colour palette; make a clean and simple layout)

2. Use brushes to their advantage (at first, I tried to use a watercolour brush, but wasn't satisfied with the effect it was giving me. So instead of forcing it, I switched brushes to something that gave me a texture that I was happy with!)

3. Draw a line between what you like and what the viewer will like. Most people do not like over the top, complex or overly-symbolic pieces. They like simple, clean, and pretty. Pleasant to their eyes. Settle on your audience and cater to that.

4. Do your art piece a favour and put in the time. Sometimes you can deceive yourself in thinking that digital means lightning fast. But every artwork needs its due time and effort. So make sure you give your artwork what it needs to be the best it can be!

5. Enjoy the process. Enjoy the blending, the sketching, and the creation of it all. The more positive energy you put into your work, the more it shows, and the more it resonates with viewers.

These are just some of the things I've learned through the process of making this work, and I hope that all you fellow artists can find these tips helpful as you explore the big exciting world of digital art! I hope to make more flower themed works soon, but till then...

All the best and talk to you later!