I completed this drawing at the end of September 2020. I hesitated to show it in my newsletter and I held off on adding it to my Etsy shop. I have always thought that my work stood on its own, uninfluenced by what was going on in the world around me. Just a landscape, just some flowers. But I believe I was wrong about that. This composition is all about that big black shadow. I believe that the oppressive days of the pandemic are in that shadow. This drawing has made me think differently about what I'm doing. That's a good thing.

The flowers themselves are based on photos that I took last spring of peonies grown in my garden. This started as a colorful, somewhat feminine piece. The blooms are frilly, like the skirt of a gown that I'll never have occasion to wear. You can clearly see my pencil strokes. Often colored pencil artists use a blending tool to smooth out the individual marks. I've chosen to leave mine visible. I like evidence of the hand that made the work. I'd always planned to add the shadow but as I progressed it became darker and darker. There's no ignoring it.

”Peonies”
24 x 30 inches.
$350.
Prismacolor pencil on Strathmore drawing paper

Prints of this image are available in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/878700767/colored-pencil-art-print-of-original?ref=shop_home_active_1

The original drawing is available here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/864227576/colored-pencil-original-drawing-peonies?ref=shop_home_active_1

I’m running a little sale, 15% off any purchase.
Sale runs from today, February 4th, till midnight February 7th.

Thanks for your interest!