Beech Leaf

I did well this time not to indent the paper, and that sure made adjustments a whole lot cleaner. Now I must remember to leave plenty of room around my drawing. It wasn't until I was nearly finished that I realized that the leaf tip was just a half inch from the perforations.

This piece is on Canson Classic Cream 90 lb with perhaps a bit more tooth than I'd like for smoothness and detail. Of course, this is merely an initial impression and could easily change.

I tried to be more "light source and shadow" aware with this piece. I was also trying for roundness between the leaf veins, something I may have missed a bit by not placing the highlights above center.

I like leaf studies. I often read that a set of objects--blocks, cones, cylinders, and balls--are useful for learning dimensional drawing and shading. I'm thinking that I can achieve the same effect with dried and curled leaves. Besides, aren't leaves just a wee bit more interesting than a bunch of styrofoam or wood cutouts? :-)

Hmm...maybe basic shape studies would be useful. I'm thinking that they are the building blocks of more complex shapes. Maybe I should be mixing it up?