Drawing Gladioli

Let's look at something pretty today, shall we? I've been continuing on with my flower drawing, this time using gladiola as my subject.  Drawing them was much easier than I had anticipated.  It's funny how that happens.  My last drawing subject was a pear and I thought I was going to tear my hair out, but these flowers just flowed right off the pencil.

I grabbed this flower at the farmers market.  Since I was using pencil, the color didn't matter.  It was the shapes that I wanted to draw.

I drew in the basic shapes and then started adding light and shadow.

This is where I left off after the first session.  My flower didn't last more than a few days, so I grabbed another at the flower shop.  Even though it was a different color, the basic shape was the same, so it worked out well.

I started out by adding the new flower to my drawing.

This had to be reworked a few times.  In a painting, it is very easy to distinguish the lights and the darks, but with drawing, I have to constantly be on the lookout for everything falling into the dreaded middle tone.

A close up of some lights and shadows in the petals.

And this is the finished drawing.  I actually attempted to add a third bloom, but it just did not look right, so I'm leaving it at two and calling it done.  I'm not sure what I'll do for my next piece, but I'm thinking about roses.  Like most artists, I enjoy torturing myself, so I may as well give it a shot!