These flowers started with watercolour in my sketchbook, where I played around with layering lots of details using Prismacolour coloured pencils and Caran D’Ache pastels.
I love it when pieces come together with lots of layers of different mediums; I think this is part of the reason why I find it so challenging to create pieces that are entirely digital where I’m happy with the textures and details. My digital pieces feel like they lack the depth and interest that mixed media traditional artwork has - at least the way *I* work digitally; other artists seem to be able to create such dynamic and textured pieces that are purely digital. I’ll get there one day!!
After I finished the sketchbook page, I wanted to do something more with them but wasn’t sure what, so I scanned them and brought them into Procreate. I cut out the 3 flowers I liked the most and also kept all the little bits and bobs doodled in between that I liked the most.
(A screenshot of my Procreate timelapse, showing what it looked like when I was moving around all the little pieces)
I played around with the layout over and over again until I liked the composition, and then did some touching up of the colour and details digitally. I’m still not 100% satisfied with it. I think I might make some more changes to it if I ever want to turn it into some kind of print product like a postcard, but I’m trying to get into the habit of finishing things and sharing them more often. I think there is a lot to be learned in the final stages of a piece, whether you really love it or not, and that creating a habit of finishing things is important.
