Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Drawing a sycamore leaf - 5

I'm playing in the shadows now.  See if you can tell what I did between this first photo:


And this second photo:



I know it is hard to tell with my amateurish photography skills, but perhaps you can pick out a few things.  First, did you notice that the cast shadow on the right side of the leaf changed?  (Oops! Have I ever mentioned 'cast shadow'?  It is just what it sounds like -- the shadow that an object casts.) Look at the area in front of the back seed pod.  In the top photo, the shadow is like a stripe -- Horreurs!  I fixed it by making it mimic the leaf shape more, as the shadow actually does.  I guess I got carried away and wasn't looking at what I was doing!  Also, do you now see a faint shadow under the stem of the leaf?  It is faint because the stem is up the air quite a ways off the table.  Finally -- and here's the bonus point -- did you notice the shadow inside the hole in the middle of the leaf?  It kind of sticks out now, but I think once I draw in the splotches and freckles on the leaf, it should look about right.

I want to work a bit more on the inward curl of the leaf, but I've basically got it.  Then add the speckles and freckles and I'm done!  Check back in a day or two and I'll show you the finished piece.

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