Evolution of a Tulip: from Sketch to Watercolor to Mixed Media

Confession:  I did not sit down at my craft table a single time last week!  Maybe I needed a break after the marathon sessions working on my mom's scrapbook the week before.  Maybe I wanted to enjoy the beautiful fall weather we've been having.  At any rate, I finally sat down last night and to jump-start my creativity, I decided to play with my watercolors.  I thought about using them to create some sympathy cards that I need.  But I really just wanted to experiment, so that's what I did.

To start, I got online and found this How to Draw a Tulip video on YouTube.  I love tulips and for years they were my signature flower.  I watched the video and told myself, "You can do that."  (We all need encouragement, right?  Even if it's from within our own heads!)  So while watching the video a second time, I lightly sketched a tulip on drawing paper.  (Unfortunately, I forgot to make a scan of my pencil drawing before proceeding to the next step.)

Then, like in the video, I went over my pencil drawing with a Sharpie, modifying and refining the various shapes. Once I was happy with that, I transferred my sketch to watercolor paper using a pencil and transfer paper.  I just guessed how to do this, vaguely remembering doing something like this when I was a kid, and miraculously it worked!  (And, once again, I forgot to take a scan of this step.)

Since I had done a transfer, my tulip was now a reverse image of the original sketch.  Using watercolors, I painted my tulip.  Overall I thought it was okay, but a little blah.  So I pulled out a fine point black artist pen and added further refinements and shading.

And here, in less than an hour believe it or not, is my tulip!  I am super pleased with how it turned out.  It's much better than I expected.  And then I decided to quit for the night, as I want time to think about how I want to finish this.  I can't simply have a tulip floating in mid-air, but I'm not sure how I want to ground it or frame it.  So for now, I will leave it alone until another day.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great Monday!

Supplies:
Strathmore 80 lb drawing paper; Staedtler Mars Lumograph 6B pencil; Sharpie fine point black marker; Strathmore tracing paper; 140 lb watercolor paper; Prismacolor 2H pencil; Winsor and Newton travel watercolor set; Cotman no. 5 round watercolor brush (it came with the travel watercolors); Faber-Castell fine point PITT artist pen in black.