A Different Beauty

 

1/20/22 amaryllis

It turns out that I still had more sketches to do of my amaryllis. I have a fondness for flowers at this stage: The colors are fading, but the blossoms now have individuality and character along with a different kind of beauty.

Instead of closely observed studies, this time I pulled out my Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles for looser sketches, which I hoped would express the blossoms’ mature exuberance. Since I didn’t do it previously in my nature journal spread, I also wanted to make an accurately scaled, full-height sketch to show how tall it got relative to its pot. I even included the stick that Greg tied to the stalk, which a friend had recommended to support it.

Technical note: These sketches are a good example of how I selectively activate watercolor pencils to indicate depth. It’s easy to get carried away with watercolor pencils and simply activate every part of the sketch because it’s fun to watch the pigments intensify and become more vibrant. But I prefer to activate only the areas in the foreground to bring them forward. By leaving dry the parts of the composition that are further back or less important, they tend to recede.