Botanical Drawing I - Materials & Methods - fourth class

For the fourth class we were asked to bring a small clay pot.  In class we drew it from three perspectives:  near eye level, lower on a platform and then lower still.  We used various containers to prop them up at different levels.   Using a ruler or divider we measured the pots paying careful attention to the size of the ellipse which grows larger as the pot is viewed more from above.  We drew on tracing paper then transferred the drawing to vellum.  This exercise was difficult because getting the symmetry is hard.  

Next we were given some actual plant material for an exercise on drawing leaves.  First we drew a geranium leaf, paying attention to the veins and lobes.  Then in order to learn how to draw a curved leaf we took an impatien leaf and taped it over an acetate cylinder.  You draw the center vein first, even the part you can't see.  then the front edge of the leaf, then the back edge.  Erase the part of the center vein obscured by bent leaf.  Add the details of veins and the serrated edge.  And voila.