Create your own Wildflower Drawing with Claudia Lowry
This week we want to celebrate the beautiful British summertime and all the gorgeous wildflowers and wildlife that bring us some much joy over these coming months. We've teamed up with artist, Claudia Lowry to create a step by step guide on how to bring the British summertime to life by creating your own wildflower drawing..
Hello, my name is Claudia, I’m an artist and illustrator based in West Sussex. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. After studying at art college, and a career as an artist agent, I am lucky enough to now work for myself, in my little studio, surrounded by beautiful countryside.
A sketchbook and pencil always by my side, my inspiration comes from the natural world, and the landscape around me. Observing the tiny details in an autumn hedgerow, or the breathtaking beauty of a summer wildflower meadow, is to me, the most inspiring subject matter.
Hello, my name is Claudia, I’m an artist and illustrator based in West Sussex. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. After studying at art college, and a career as an artist agent, I am lucky enough to now work for myself, in my little studio, surrounded by beautiful countryside.
A sketchbook and pencil always by my side, my inspiration comes from the natural world, and the landscape around me. Observing the tiny details in an autumn hedgerow, or the breathtaking beauty of a summer wildflower meadow, is to me, the most inspiring subject matter.
Here, I hope to encourage you to pick up a pencil, and be inspired by the beautiful wildflowers that are so abundant at this time of year. I collected this little posy from an overgrown corner of my garden and a nearby meadow where I often walk in the morning. There are buttercups, forget-me-nots, green alkanet, oxeye daisies and a sunny welsh poppy.
It’s usually best to find a fairly bright spot to place your subject matter, natural light if possible. Place your paper in front of your jam jar or vase and have a good look at the shape of the flowers and foliage and how they sit with one another. Notice the shadows and which areas are more prominent, and the shape of the flowers, leaves and the smaller detailed areas.
Start by loosely sketching the placement of the flowers. I think of it as almost creating a sort of map. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look accurate, an impression of what you are seeing is what you’re aiming for, so just keep it simple.
Now you can add a little more detail, perhaps adding heavier lines and adding more interest with different pencil marks, again, don’t worry about how it looks, it’s a response to what’s in front of you rather than a botanically correct drawing. Nature is never static, a concept i try and capture in my drawings, so enjoy the freedom of the simple and fluid act of pencil against paper. If you have colour pencils or perhaps watercolours then you could add some areas of colour too. Quite often, the hardest part is knowing when to stop before a drawing is overworked, so don’t feel compelled to spend hours drawing, I find the more spontaneous a drawing is, the better it works overall.
I hope you enjoy studying the beauty that can be found in nature, particularly at this time of year, happy drawing!