And So it Begins - With an Indian Paintbrush!

Months and months can go by, and nothing interests me about art. Not the people, not the concept, nothing! And then, out of nowhere, BAM! An idea.
My idea: an Indian Paintbrush.

I began with my favorite style: thick, dark outlines, with thin, separating lines inside. I like pieces, and I like texture. The paper, by the way, is something I saved from a purchase at Bath & Body Works.

Next I brought in the color of the Indian Paintbrush, using Prismacolor. I went off of a picture that I had taken of an Indian Paintbrush in East Texas, and here's the thing that I've learned: It really doesn't matter the exact of what you see, the perception is all that counts. There are many lines of color that can go into this particular drawing, but only a few types of color and types of stroke create an impression. At least, that's what it seems to me.

Finally, the leaves. I simply blended types of grey with a darker, hunter green, and a brighter, lime green. I've been working with colored pencils for about four years now, on and off. I've yet to really embrace their potential (I've seen AH-mazing stuff done with color!), but I'm surprised that my idea here worked - I didn't think grey and green would blend well, certainly not purple and pink...

Here I added the background, a sort of addition that was intended to emphasize the focus (the flower). I'm not sure how much this has worked, but it's interesting that I seem to go for bold, bright colors, with dark, detailed lines along with them. It's difficult to tell in this picture, but the leaves here are embellished with thin lines.

I brought in some acrylic paint, blended it along the outside of the leaves, and that's it! The piece took me about a day and a half to finish, I'd say about 8-10 hours total. Oh, and yes, I was watching Memoirs of a Geisha, if you were wondering!