This weekend we had stormy weather which left some late blooming gladioli blown over in the garden and so I decided to pick a few for the house and use them for drawing practice this week.
These late bloomers have all been this lovely white and red bicolour, making beautiful structural shapes and welcome flowers after a dry summer and early autumn.
I started with a quick pencil sketch to loosen up and then a couple of studies in chalk pastels. I will probably use the pastel sketches as a base or inspiration for either cards or artwork.
I thought I’d put a few handy tips if you’re thinking of using chalk pastels for the first time:
Chalk pastels are crumbly and very easy to smudge, I recommend trying pastels in a pencil form if you want detailed, crisp lines as they are easy to sharpen to a point and create far less mess.
Try keeping a clean piece of paper handy to cover areas you have already worked on in order not to smudge pastel as you move over your work.
These white gladioli are much easier to pick out on a colour background than on white paper. So, if you can find a pad of pastel paper with various shades, you can pick a background to maximise the impact of your work.
