1 bouquet 4 ways

My latest online class Flower Power starts on Friday and while I can't give everything away, I thought it would be fun to give you a little peek inside one of the lessons today! 

In my opinion there is no right or wrong way to draw a flower. In fact getting creative and using different techniques is a really fun way to push yourself creativity. Often times I will grab a bouquet of flowers and challenge myself to come up with different ways to capture the flowers.

                                            1 bouquet 4 ways from Alisa Burke on Vimeo.

Simple line drawings are something that I use when I am sketching on the go or have limited time. I try to capture the essence of my inspiration in the simplest of ways, often using fast line drawings. I always challenge myself to fill the page, sometimes I add color while other times I leave it simple. 

Using loose expressive color is one of my favorite ways to capture flowers on a page. This technique lends itself to using paint (either watercolor or acrylic) and is great way to let go of perfection and embrace expression.

I love to incorporate inspiration that I find in flowers into my doodles. Instead of doodling in a literal way, I like to use the shapes of flower petals, the pattern on leaves and the details found in my bouquet to build a unique doodle that contains elements of flowers.

When I have time to sit down and draw I enjoy capturing details. And while my style of sketching is more illustrative and whimsical, I still challenge myself to spend time capturing lines, pattern and details.