Artists Reflect:
As I was drawing the thumbnails and the sketches for both the flower and the skull, I could not decide which one I was going to choose for my final sketch. They both had benefits and looked beautiful. I looked at the sketches and thought, "what if I could incorporate both of the sketches into one final sketch." I made a small sketch on the side of the paper of both of the sketches together, with flowers erupting from cracks. The image in my mind looked beautiful, so I started drawing. As I got further into my final sketch, I stepped back and it looked plain. More plain than I imagined. One flower on the sketch took me a day to draw, so I needed something to add that was faster to draw, which is when I came up with the idea to draw vines wrapping around the skull. Once I added this final detail it was done!
Artists Solve Problems:
As I drew my final sketch, my artwork looked plain and boring, as if nothing was going on in the picture. I wanted to add something to spice up my artwork. After looking online, I decided a great addition with the cracks and flowers was to add vines wrapping around the skull and to add shading to the background of the skull. I didn't want to add more flowers because they were so time consuming, and also I wanted the attention to be drawn to the flower that was already there. Vines were the best option. One of the biggest challenges I faced was where to put the cracks in the skull. I decided to put a few on the top part, with flowers and vines erupting out of them. In the end, it turned out definitely not looking plain.
Artists Develop Art Making Skills:
I never was good at sketching, but through the time it took to make the final sketch I definitely learned some valuable techniques. First, I learned to not just draw a dark line as an outline. The outline had to gradually shade inwards so it didn't look so distinct and fake. Second, I learned for vines and stems, to make the sides darker than the inner part. It makes it look more realistic. Lastly, I learned that art takes time! In the past I always rushed artwork, but great art takes time. I definitely gained skill with sketching pencils, and hope to use them again!
