Shmush wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 10:48 pm
My main plant is the same as Mike’s. It didn’t start out that way. I tried an analytical approach. Researching White Peacock Butterflies and the type of plants they like. After a lot of research, I came back to using Mike’s references as the main plant.
...possibly because the plant I used was the one it was standing on?
Well, in truth, it was the same butterfly on a plant alongside that one, but the same type. Photographed, incidentally, just outside Clearwater in Florida.
...I think learning about WP butterflies and looking at so many plants helped build my visual catalog, which will hopefully show in my final results.
And that's what the two latest "Texture" videos (and the next) are attempting to promote. Although they feature Textures, in an ideal world, no matter what the subject is, you really need to know
what you're drawing, not just its appearance. I think the next video (which I'm currently writing) will really reinforce the need for exploration and research.
...since the results just looked like a mess of leaves rather than a pleasing composition, I decided hand sketching the plants might be a better approach. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to create and modify surrounding leaves, since I usually work directly from photographs or the real thing, not my imagination.
I think you discovered the secret yourself. It is both "easy" and free - once you're free of references, you'll tend to draw what you expect to see in Nature, because that's what you know - all your past observations and experiences come together to guide you. The same applies to balance in the composition - balance feels natural.
The butterfly I cut from another picture, then created it into a black/white line drawing using Photoshop
Excellent! And I say that because it ensures accuracy, although it is an impersonal method. But that will become corrected, because you will later have to render that down to line - when you transfer it to your drawing paper, for example. Personally, I'd insert a stage between the two, where I'd purposefully draw, or even trace, your Photoshop-generated drawing, and then seek to see if alterations might improve it within my composition. Whichever way you choose, that final rendering of line will involve some degree of exploration. When you begin drawing, you'll already be well-acquainted with your subject. And the
line stage might also unearth possible problems that you can fix before you begin the drawing. For example, to the right of the left-hand row of eye-spots are marking that are in a straight vertical line. That might later prove to be a distraction. I'm not advocating you move any of those marking, but you might choose to make some stronger than others, to break the obvious line.
It is at this stage modification can most easily be made, so any suggestions or comments are welcome.
Your butterfly is intact (unlike mine!) and you've produced a wonderful array of interesting shapes in the leaves. My only advice - assuming it's needed
- is to not forget to create depth in the spaces between the leaves. Your leaves vary from foreground to midground, and a background does not currently exist. I suspect, like me, you'll find the best solution is to create that background as you're drawing, with no prior planning at all. As I said earlier, you'll draw what you instinctively expect to see in Nature. Just bear in mind, that in Nature, not everything is clearly visible. If you push some elements so far back into the shade that they almost disappear, you'll create both a natural mystery and great depth.
I'm really looking forward to seeing this progress. Do please post regular updates.
