Draw & Paint Culinary Herbs - Lesson 6 Basil

We used a flat, heavy application of watercolor as a base layer, then used colored pencils on top. It's slow going, but allows for a lot of shading and detail.

Draw & Paint Culinary Herbs - Lesson 5

I've fallen a little behind, so I'm trying to get caught up. I actually bought some oregano to sketch. It's much nicer to sketch from the real thing (it smells nice too). I wasn't too satisfied with this as I was working on it, but I like it a little better now. I'm out of practice!

Draw & Paint Culinary Herbs - Lesson 4

Informal watercolor of dill or fennel using Val Webb's reference photos. All watercolor; no pencil first (even in the title, where I usually use pencil).

Draw & Paint Culinary Herbs - Lesson 2 Revised

Original

Revised

I revised my pencil sketch based on a critique from Val Webb.  As usual, I needed to add contrast by darkening my shading. Thanks Val - I like it better now! 

Draw & Paint Culinary Herbs - Lesson 2

Val Webb calls this technique a "gentle pencil sketch" because you use the pencil so lightly and build up layers for the darks. I sketched this from a reference photo provided by Val.

Draw & Paint Culinary Herbs - Lesson 1

Basic pencil sketch of mint