| Sketching Wildflowers |
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| A Method of Sketching Wildflowers: 1. Sketch in lines showing direction of petal, leaves, etc. a. Count the number of parts; how many petals, leaves, etc. b. Use lines to show the orientation of parts c. Make your flower bigger than life. (It is easier to put in detail) 2. Fill in the detail. 3. Add shading for depth and form. a. Shade in areas on onside of stem and other parts to show form b. Shade in areas behind petals and leaves, etc. |
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| The above drawings were copied by the desktop designer of the Mt. Diablo wildflower brochure and improved by darkening the outlines of the petals, and changing the placement of the text. See the brochure for reference. Note how the Mariposa Lily drawing could be improved by either making the ovary less dark in outline or by darkening the outlines of the rest of the flower. |
| Wildflower Sketching Hints: 1. After drawing the image, be sure to erase all of your guide lines and lines that go outside the wildflower. This really improves the image. 2. Step back from your image and see what it looks like from a distance of 10 or 15 feet. See if you can tell what the flower is from this distance. 3. Read about the flower and see what parts of the flower are considered botanically important and be sure to emphasize these. 4. Ask yourself questions as you draw. 5. If possible include a sketch of the fruit. This can further aid in wildflower indentification. 6. Sometimes it is fun to fill up a page of wildflowers at the location you were at. You might want to sort the flowers on a wildflower colorwheel. 7. Look at wildflower guides such as the "Peterson Guide to Western Wildflowers" and see how the author uses line, value and shading. 8. See what happens when you have a large range of values from dark to light. 9. Your own hints. |