| Chrysanthemum | |
| Pastel Drawing | |
Beginning the sketch: I've left this sketch unfinished so that you can see all the stages. I've sketched the outline of blue flower in black, and the pink one using pale pink pastel. From there, the petals are built up in bold areas of the main colors, with lighter and darker hues added to create texture and form.
Tip:Don't use pencil to sketch your drawing, as it presses into the paper, and the greasy graphite will reject the pastel. Use pastels in similar values to the areas you will be drawing. You can sharpen your pastel with a knife or use pastel pencil.
Add color: Background shading in contrasting colors adds energy, especially in the forground, which pushes the closer bloom towards the viewer. Black pastel can create a visual black hole - the centers here are too dense, so I lift off some color with a kneadable eraser and add touches of purple and dark green. They'll look more balanced when the background and petals are complete.
Colored Paper:The colored paper acts as a unifying factor in the drawing, showing through here and there to pull it all together. For best results, choose a contrasting color. The gray here is a little close to the blue, but use of bright and dark hues prevents it from looking flat.
