This is the final stage my waxed amaryllis reached before it started to wilt. I used the gouache brush this time for the flower instead of the 2B pencil I used for the first two. Because I blend with the gouache brush tool, you can't even really tell the difference.
During the last few months of 2022, I worked several people and pet portraits. We got busy doing other things and now trying to pick back up where I left off with my goal in drawing my family.
It was time for me to draw Neal and Travis. I could spend hours fine tuning shading, etc. but decided to call these done.
Here is one more sketch I worked watching the first round of amaryllis plants I have growing. I was getting a little burnt out sketching the flowers so I haven't worked the final stage showing it in full bloom. Maybe later but it was time for me to select another subject.
Yesterday I decided to go back to a previous drawing I did of our oldest dog, Miya. She's 15 this year and when I drew her back in 2020, I chose to capture showing how her eyes are clouding over due to age. I also chose not to blend much to show how course her fur has become as she's aged.
Pulling her drawing back up, I wanted to make changes especially around the eyes and make her fur softer looking and with just a touch of tan color she still has in her coat. I also darkened the body fur as it is darker than her face, head, and chest.
And although I could continue fine-tuning, I am MUCH happier with these results compared to before.
Her initial drawing was using a 4B pencil with very little blending and with the changes made to make her fur look softer (less grainy), I used the Gouache Blending Tool.
Present Changes Made:
It has been interesting trying out the waxed amaryllis where you do nothing but set the bulb in a sunny warm location. Had it been planted in soil, I suspect it would have produced three flower stalks but with the wax confining the growth, only one stalk made it at a time. The second stalk was stunted and I didn't think would do anything but it did flower. The BIGGEST surprise turns out with two buds close to the neck of the opening deciding to flower after I cut off the dead flowers of the second stunted stalk. The leaves of the amaryllis really never grew but I figure it was due to being crowded. My only disappointment with these are the fact the flowers fade so quickly compared to those planted in the ground. Maybe they are a different variety that wouldn't last even in soil? No idea.
I decided to sketch how the one bud was opening early morning and then by afternoon, it had opened more that I wanted to capture. It's fascinating to me as I watch day by day the changes flowering plants go through in such a short time.
Procreate: 2B pencil for coloring (no black and white this time) and gouache brush tool for blending. Worked each component on separate layers which paid off with the growth change within hours. I was able to make the changes/additions and still keep the rest of the plant as already sketched. I was able to just focus on the one flower and the subtle change to the other bud next to it.
As I watch my amaryllis plants grow and flower, I'm sketching various stages I can refer back to. It just amazes me watching these go from root ball to flower on a daily basis.
I used the 2B pencil for coloring and the Gouache brush tool for blending.
I have several amaryllis plants growing in my bathroom and decided to work a sketch of one of the growing stages.
6B pencil for both drawing and erasing (for lightening values). This one I chose not to use blending (smudge tool).
It's been several weeks since I've picked up a pencil or even my iPad and now trying to get back to some drawing. From November until present day, we have been involved in various activities from crafting to putting together Lego sets to playing the new Pokemon that came out Nov 18th. Then you add the holidays.
For my first drawing in 2023, I chose this Struggling Amaryllis. I was really surprised it made it, let alone bloom. I tried a waxed Amaryllis for the first time and the first stalk that grew was tall producing four flowers. That stalk crowded the leaves and a second bud that barely rose from the waxed bulb. The flowers were beautiful but didn't last long. Faded much sooner than ones I've grown in the soil.
After the first flowers faded, I cut the stalk back to the top of the waxed bulb to see what might happen with the leaves and the second bud. That bud struggled for the longest time but as the cut stalk started to shrivel inside the encased wax, it seemed to allow more room and the second bud started moving upwards. Not by much but at least enough to where it started to open. So second flowering is somewhat stunted but is still going strong.
