6 Steps to Begin Building Better Botanical Line Drawings

1. Introduction: 6 Steps to Beginning Better Botanical Drawings: Hey, friends, do y'all want to draw botanicals but never really know where to start? I get it. Those intricate details can feel completely overwhelming, but don't worry. I got you. I have come up with a six step process to take you from start to finish to building a better botanical line drawing. This class is for anybody, whether you don't know where to start or maybe you are already drawing and just want to up your game a little bit. Look, I'm going to take you through the six step process with different botanicals, working our way through each lesson. And then for the final project, I'm going to take a completely different botanical specimen, go from start to finish through the six steps so you can draw alongside with me and see the process in full. So if you're ready to stop second guessing yourself and build more confident drawings, then this is the class for you. Come on inside. Let's get our materials, and let's get building some better botanical drawings. 2. Materials Needed : M. Okay, the materials you're gonna need for this class are some botanical specimens. I grab these from my backyard because I'm a big gardener. If you don't have a backyard, then just go for a walk in your neighborhood, and you'll find lots of foliage everywhere. It is all around us. It is one of the most beautiful things that people forget about and don't even notice. So then you're also going to need some pens. I use a uni pen or a micron, at least a 0.5. I've got some tape, some scissors, a little bit of guash. So I've got either a white guash or this pale lavender color. I got a fluffy paint brush and some water and a rag. Okay, then I'm also going to need some paper. So I've cut up some paper right here just into these little squares. The paper that I like to use is this Borden and Riley. It's a smooth bleed proof, all purpose paper for pens and pencils. It's a very smooth finish, so I really like drawing on it. And then for the final project, I also like drawing on painted construction paper. So I've made this little book that I've put a lot of construction paper in, and then I just go back and I paint it with white guash. Then I like putting my botanical drawings in it, and they start piling up after a while and looking so beautiful with these different colors as a border and a background. So I encourage you to get just a piece of construction paper. We're going to fold it in half and paint in the middle of it, and then you can put your final project on it. So you'll have a nice little border and something to frame. Okay, so grab your supplies and meet back here, and we're gonna dive right in to the six steps to better botanical drawings. Let's get started. 3. Step 1: Focal Point & Composition: Okay, so once we have our specimen we want to draw, and I'm going to do several examples over the course of this class. The first thing we need to do is to set our focal point. What do I mean by set your focal point? So I'm just going to make four little canvases in these squares. And I'm just going to use our principles of design and decide where and what I want the focal point to be. The reason this is important is because it's going to help you determine your size and shape of everything. So for example, I'm just going to group this into three different sets of leaves, one here, one here and one here. And in this first set, I'm going to say this is my focal point down here. So maybe I make my focal point of leaves around this big. Well, if I did it that big and I go up, I'm only going to see the bottom part of these leaves right here if this is my borders. So here's where that other set of leaves would be, and then perhaps the stem would be coming down somewhere like that. And that would be the focal point and the relative proportions around it. Now, if you want to see this whole thing, Okay, you can do that, too, but you're going to have to make this a whole lot smaller. So maybe here are those leaves. Then the next set of leaves would be up around here and then this last one about here, having the stem coming down like that. So there's another composition. Only the whole thing is in focus, and in this first one, it would be more, this would be your focal point. So let's change it up again. What if I want? Let's change it this way. Oh, yeah. See, now I like that. I've got these two as my focal points, and this is a third tertiary. So let's draw this one first. This one down here at the bottom. We're just going to do like here. And then this group of leaves here, and then maybe this set coming up here. Okay, so we're working on our compositions. Here comes the stem down and out. Okay, and then let's do one more. Let's Oh, let's make this the focal point, this middle one right here and maybe have it coming across this way. I like that. Let's go here. And then this sweeps over this way, and it is gonna fall off the canvas or the page. Okay. And then this one is more over here. So these bottom two are actually very similar. I've just moved this up and over a little bit. And that's that. Okay. So you see what I mean? I've got a couple more that I've done right here. But setting your focal point is really going to help you out. I like these two here, and of these, let's see. I'm more drawn to I'm more drawn to this one already. So I'm going to outline this one. So if you set your focal point first and build your composition, you're going to be a lot happier when you go to start looking at your leaf patterns and all the intricate things that you've got to fit in these areas that we've made. Okay, so, number one, set your focal point. 4. Step 2: Leaf Patterns: Okay, what's the second one? Number two. Start with leaf patterns. Now, what do I mean by this? I mean, we need to start noticing how these things are growing in relative space to each other. So in this one, this is the salad burnt. This is a herb. Okay, and I put this in salads. It tastes like cucumbers. It's actually really good. How does this one grow? I'm noticing that the leaves grow opposite at each other, okay? At every node, this is a node right here. Okay, and the node is where the leaves are going to originate off of the stem. So this burnet is growing opposite. Everywhere, I've got a leaf coming off of the stem. I have a leaf coming off opposite. So up here, I've got a leaf coming off of the stem, and I've got one opposite. And this is true all the way up until I get to the very top. And I bet. Yep. And it looks like I just have a single one at the very top. So that's the pattern that these leaves are growing in. And they are growing opposite. Alright, let's do another one. Let's go back to Let's go back to this rose. How is it growing? Comes back every year. What a beautiful plant. It flowers many times in one season. But let's check out how it's growing off of the main stem, right? If I turn it to its side, I quickly realize I don't have an opposite situation. Here's my stem. And I've got this coming off of the main stem, and then I've got these bunches of leaves that happen. And we can explore those patterns here in a minute. But I don't have another group of leaves coming off of this main stem until up here. That's these. And then I've got one more set coming up off the top here. So that's how this one is growing very different from the way these are growing, right? Let's try it again. Let's do another one. Alright, let's take a look at this one. This one's a little more complicated, but we can reduce it down. So as I look at this, and I'm gonna break this one apart. Okay, this is a Goji Berry, by the way. It comes back every year. Okay, the Goji berry, if you really look in here, can separate out these groups of leaves, and we can see that they're growing alternately. So here's one set of leaves coming off of this side of the stem, and then you've got the next set of leaves coming off the opposite alternate side of the stem. So what do I mean by that? Here's your stem. Here's one group of leaves. That's these. And then these come off opposite, but alternately, they're going up and off here. These come up. Let's look again closely. Yep. That one's coming off that way, and these are coming off the other way. It's just they're not very big. We're at the very beginning of the growing season here. But I can see that that's there. I've got another set coming off here. There. And then opposite. They're alternating the nodes are alternating. Back and forth instead of opposite instead of this. Okay, so that's what I mean by start with your leaf patterns and start looking at how the leaves are originating out of the stems. In the next session, we are going to go over leaf orientations and how those will help us to make a very natural organic looking botanical drawing. 5. Step 3: Leaf Orientation: Okay, in this section, we are going to go over leaf orientations. Okay, the reason this is important is because depending on the angle and position of a leaf, it's going to change the size and the shape. So I'm going to go ahead and pluck off a few individual leaves so that I can lay them flat and take a good look at them. Now, if your leaves are not laying flat, by all means, get out your little piece of tape and just tape it down to your paper so you can really look at it. So as I look at these leaves, I'm noticing they're very different from, say, these leaves that I'm looking at because they're all oriented in different shapes and in different ways. These are laying flat. So these are very stagnant and not very interesting. However, we can study them a lot better in this orientation. So I'm going to look at the general overall shape of the leaf and just start drawing it. So these are pretty much ovals. Now, they might be a little tapered more at each end, so let's try to draw it that way. So they're more like little ovals with points on each end. And then if we get even more specific, they're more pointed and jaggedy on one side than, say, the other. So I'm going through a progression of the general shape, maybe tapering it, and then committing to some additional textures that the shape might have. So go through this exercise with your leaf flattened to really start appreciating what the leaf itself is doing. So yeah, so we'll go through and we'll do that and look at your leaf orientation and these extra little details that will bring that leaf to life. And then as I look over the rest of it, I'm also appreciating how all these other leaves are turned. So because they're on their side and they're curled up a little bit, a lot of these leaves have this shape, right? Because I'm only seeing half of the leaf and half of the serrated edges on that leaf. Or I might see one that has jaggedy edges here, but I also see the other half of it. And then there's the little stem from the leaf. Okay, so that's another orientation. I can come up here and look at some of these others. I've got Gosh, it looks like I've got one that's kind of bent like that. Wow. That's kind of different. But, you know, the more I practice these different shapes and kind of do a study of what I see and then twisting the shapes around and actually picking up some of these different orientations, I'm actually learning a lot more about the leaf itself, how it grows, how I can manipulate that in my drawing. Okay, so let's do another one leaf orientation. I've got some English ivy here. Let's see about this O English ivy. I'm going to pluck off one of these leaves. Let me see if I can tape this little guy down. Okay, so it's like a five pointed star, one, two, three, four, five, although I really do see like this triangle shape, right? But then I also see, like, these wings coming off of each side. That's this and this. And I also see this dip right here. Then that's where all this originates from. Okay, so let's try that one more time. So I've got my big point up top. I've got these smaller star shaped little appendages. Okay. So I'm just kind of repeating this without the structural lines in between, just to see if I can draw the same shape kind of over and over again and really get a feel for what this leaf Does. Okay. And then when I'm feeling good about this, the flat one, I can always come back and start turning this and really exploring the different shapes that I'm seeing. And really, I mean, that's what I'm seeing from this one, even though this is the shape of the leaf, but by the time you turn it on its side, wow, it's kind of turning in to something else, right? I mean, that's what I see there. Boom, boom. But you throw in one of these around it, and it's telling your brain. Oh, yeah, that's a That's a English ivy leaf. Okay. There's another one on its side. So this really takes some practice and some trust for yourself. Like, that's a weird oh shape, right? However, however, however, I feel like it's what I see. And if I put it with all these other leaves, suddenly, it looks correct, doesn't it? So these are all the same leaves that look like this only. You're never going to look at all of the leaves taped down. So check out your leaf orientations, check out your leaf shapes, draw some crude ovals and squares and diamonds until you get the right shape and just practice over and over and turning them all on their sides and whatnot. This is a very helpful step in creating a successful botanical line drawing. In the next lesson, we're going to learn to mind the gap and be aware of our negative space. I'll see you then. 6. Step 4: Mind the Gap: M. Alright. Number. Let's do number four. Okay, number four is mine the gap. So we need to observe our negative space. I'm going to put out a couple different things, and we're going to look at negative space. This first one is a rose. This is the knockout rose. And you see how sparse it is. If our leaves are this big, they're not taking up much space relative to all the space over here. If I were to draw this stem very crudely and pick the size of these leaves relative to the whole thing, they're not very big, are they? They're really only about this big. This next set that comes off right about here is only about this big. And then this set up at the top is only about this big. So there is a whole lot of negative space from here to here, here to here, from here to here. So this one is the Rose. Okay, let's talk about this one, the burnet Okay. The burnet is a little different. So you notice that as this one grows, we've got more negative space in between the nodes on this one closer to the bottom, and it disappears up top, right? So if this is our stem, I've got leaves coming out opposite at the bottom here. Okay. Now, if the leaves are this size, I can easily fit another leaf in between in this negative space, this gap right here, right? So I know that if I can fit more than one of these leaves in that space, I need to go up at least to here, I would say, to keep everything relative to keep that negative space in play. So for example, I'm just coming up now. So that looks about right. But what about the next section? See? This is the negative space between here and here, here and here. Now, it's gonna get closer together when we do this next set, right? So I can't fit but one leaf. Like, in this bottom one, I probably can fit two. This one, I'm gonna say I can only fit one. So I'm gonna pull this guy off right here. And this one Okay, a little bit closer together, right? That's the negative space right there. And now the next one, look, I can barely see the page underneath that one. So I know it's got to come off right about here and encroach on the space of this one. Same on this side. Okay, encroaching on the space. And then this top leaf is kind of tucked back behind those first two with no space in between them. There's zero space. Okay, let's do this one. This is called winter savory. I love this herb. It's pretty great, too. And okay, so several things are happening here. I've got one big leaf growing out every other, right? But then I also have these bunches of leaves growing out opposite, as well. Wow, so that's a lot going on. The Winter savory. Let's talk about all this negative space. So if I've got the stem, and I'm starting here at the bottom, say, these leaves kind of take up the space right here. And I'm doing the whole set. I'll do the whole set. If I come up to here, I've got quite a bit of space I need to leave open before I do this next set. So I was going to come off here, but I really think I need to go higher. So I think this bunch is here in the middle. You know, and then I've got these longer leaves that come out on each side. Maybe that's how I need to do this. Okay. Now, this next set is kind of in the middle here. Is this one. And then I've got my long leaves coming off each side. Okay, here's this other set here. Long leaves each side. So I'm doing a fair job of keeping the negative space happening. This is the stem. Okay. Now, let's keep looking up. So this is kind of disappearing now. I'm not getting as much space in between all this. So this is actually kind of looking like a big mass with a topper and then slowly just bigger leaves coming out of it every once in a while. So I'm kind of taking some latitude just because it's getting jumbly. But I've done a good job of leaving my negative space here. Here, here, here and here, a little bit here. And then these little nibblets of it up. So visit the structure, look at it, draw leaves together, bunch them together. We bunch these together, right? And I bunch these together, but you get the idea of how it grows. Number one, we've discovered the leaf patterns and how it grows, but now we can also mine the gap and really watch the negative space in between to get everything looking the way that it should and look more natural. Alright, and the next lesson, why it's important to draw outward. We're going to start with our focal point and draw outward, and you will start seeing the magic come together, the magic happen. Alright, here we go. 7. Step 5: Draw Outward: Alright, so number five. Draw outward from Focal Point. What do I mean by this? Okay, so like here, I can, you know, of course, decide how I want this oriented front, back, up, down. I might just leave it just like this and have a go. So I've got two, three choices on focal point. So I'm kind of liking this area here. I'm liking it because it's got some overlap. It's got some details. I can see the leaves straight on. Let me tilt this a little bit so you see what I'm seeing. I'm seeing the leaves from this orientation. It looks very beautiful right in there. So I'm going to concentrate on maybe these three leaves together and start there. So I'm just going to start this leaf, whatever size I want it to be. And we just have to realize that once we pick that initial leaf and that initial size, it's going to set up the proportions for the entire drawing. So here's my first leaf, right? Now, if that is this leaf and I'm drawing this one next because it's behind it, I'm noticing it's a little bit smaller, and then this one is a little bit smaller still. So I'm just going to and no one's gonna know if something is right or not when I draw it. As long as it's keeping in good company with all the other things that I'm drawing, it should look correct. So I'm using that triangle, kind of patterny design that we worked on earlier when we were looking at leaf shapes. Okay, so I've got these three leaves now, and I can see the tiniest bit of stem in between. I can go ahead and fill that in. Okay. And then my next leaf I see is this one over here. Now, if this one is bigger than these three, and I want to go up to here. So this is what I mean by drawing outward. I've got my middle done, and now I'm just gonna bounce from side to side to fill in the rest of these shapes. So I will quickly do that while you watch. So that's what I mean by drawing outward. I chose my focal point in the middle, and then I've come outward from it, drawing all these other shapes. Okay, so that's what I mean by drawing outward from your focal point. Start in the middle, wherever that is, and then work out from each side, keeping everything portional, which is our number six. In the next lesson, we're going to mind our proportions. Keep those in check. That will bring together our last step so that we can get onto our class project. 8. Step 6: Check Proportions: Okay, and number six is double check proportions. Okay, to demonstrate this, I'm going to use a piece of fake foliage just for simplicity. So when I say double check your proportions, this is what I'm talking about. So I'm gonna arbitrarily, it doesn't matter what size you make something to begin with. Say my first leaf is this big, right? And I know that the opposite leaf or that there is an opposite leaf, okay? So I can go ahead and draw that opposite leaf. Coming out about the same distance, right? I'll make it a little flatter, just to be different. Okay, and by proportions, this is what I mean. You can take your pen and kind of measure. And I notice that it's about the same distance from the node to the tip of the leaf as it is from the node to the next node. Now, wow, that's a proportion I can really use while I'm drawing. So it doesn't matter that this doesn't match that size. I can just take the size of leaf and measure down, and I can put a dot right there knowing that that is where the next node needs to be coming out. And I can draw the next leaf. I can do the next leaf on this other side. But what that's doing is it's helping me. I'm gonna connect the two now with my stem because I like doing the stems last, remember? So I can connect that down, and it's done several things. It's minded the gap of the negative space between here and here. It's a lot wider on this side. I've bent it over, and it's the right proportion of spacing between the nodes. So, hey, let's do that again. There's my space there to there. I'm going to put a dot, and I know that I can now draw my next leaf shape. And I know I can make it come out opposite. I can turn them a little bit, like we've done in the other lessons, the different leaf orientations, and now I can drop this line down, even put a little curve in it to make it look like it's really growing. Okay? I'm going to do this one more time, and I'm noticing that this set of leaves is a lot smaller than this set, but it's still that same proportion down. So I'm going to measure, pull it down, put my dot there, and now I'm going to pull these tiny little leaves on each side. And connect. And then I've got one tiny leaf at the very bottom. Okay? So that's how it goes. You start. You pick your spot and you go, and you measure, and that will definitely help with your proportions. It'll help you mined the gap. It'll help with your leaf orientations. It will help all of it. So let's do one more time. So those are all there. That's this one. I'm gonna do this one here. Okay, so how do I do it up? Well, I'm gonna do the same thing. I'm gonna measure over and then I'm going to pull it up. I'm gonna put my dot right about there. Now, I see this leaf is bent down, and it's getting close to this leaf. It's not touching it, but it's getting close. So I think I like that natural variation. And then this other opposite leaf is coming up more, and then I can connect my stem. Minding all the proportions. See how that all looks correct now because I've measured. I've found commonalities, I've found patterns, and I have found the trick to drawing this endlessly. So yeah, next up, we're gonna prep our paper with some guash so that we can move on to our final project. Alright, see you there. 9. Class Project Part 1 (steps 1-3): Okay, the first thing we're gonna do is get our construction paper down to a more manageable size so that we are not intimidated by a very large drawing. So I like to do it more this size paper. And if I'm doing one, I might as well do two. So I'm going to get out my white guash. And just sort of spurts them around. I'm gonna leave about a 1 " border all the way around this, just because I think it always looks pretty to have a nice border, but I don't like it perfect, so you will see me leave this very rough. But I also think it makes for a very good framing a framing piece of art when you're done. So once I've got it coated, I'm kind of moving some of that paint to the other side. I don't want to waste. And I'm also making it smooth. That way, if I really like the final drawing I've done, I can scan it into my computer and I can use it for other projects. Alright, so that looks pretty good there. Let me put some more down here. Get this coated. Alright, that looks pretty good. We're gonna let those dry. We're going to start my six step process. Okay, so here we go. Here's our finished canvas that I've done. I'm just going to set it up to the side right here. Okay. This is the plant I've chosen. It is a It is a royal t ivy. It grows very prettily. I love all of its leaves and how it looks. So I've got my pen, and we're going to begin to set our focal point. We are going to take a look at this plant. And see what it is that we think is special about it. We're going to take a look at it and see what, you know, draws our attention and go from there. Okay, I kind of like how these leaves fold over each other. This is really pretty how all of these guys are lined up facing this way, and then it gets all twisty from there. I kind of like seeing this from the side. You know, you appreciate the underneath of the leaf a little bit and how it's growing off of the stem. I kind of like that. I also think about manipulating these in the way I want them. Maybe I don't want to see these leaves on top of this other side. So I I can bend them away or I can just take them off of the plant altogether. So you can make plants do what you want them to, and then I can always add these leaves back, you know, where I want them. So that's very pretty. This is very focal point, and then it kind of gets all natural. So let's try that. I've got my stem and these groups of leaves. Okay. So that's one configuration. Maybe I only want to see this top part. Maybe I'm just gonna see leaves like this kind of spinning spinning off of each other. And then this top one comes out. Okay? So that's a little more interesting, and then the stem bends down that way. So I've blown this area up considerably, and I think I like that a little bit. Closer to these leaves. So do this big S curve, and then we can see these leaves kind of coming off of it. So this is a little interesting here. The way those grow, here's the stem, that S curve. So we've got a few choices there. Let's try one more. Oh, there you go. Just bending it over like that. I like that. Maybe get it to come down like that and get one leaf really big coming up and off frame. Highlight this one. And this one. Now, number two, start with leaf patterns, not the stem. What do I mean by that? Remember, we're gonna look at how these things grow now. And I am noticing that they are growing alternately, and they're kind of spinning around the entirety of the plant. Let's draw some wavy line. Okay, that's for the stem. We're just looking at the leaf patterns right now. Looking at the leaf patterns. So I can tell that, say, this leaf here, that's this one right here. There it is coming off of the stem, that is the node. And I noticed that this next one right here grows up into the right of that one. So it's up into the right. And then I've got the leaf. Coming off opposite. Then this next one is up into the right more. So it's kind of up in here. The next one is this one. So see how it's growing to the left. It's growing to the right. It's growing towards us. Now it's going to go back over to the left. And then it's going to come up and over to the right. And then it's gonna be up and kind of coming off of the stem right towards us. Well, what about the leaf itself? Well, let's keep going, right? Let's keep doing our study. Okay, there it is. It's a very pretty leaf. So it's got this curve to it. And then it comes up and out into a point, but it's also curved at the end. It comes out and then back in. It's kind of come off like that. Okay, let's do it again. So it's kind of an oval shape that's tapered at the top and then brought in at the bottom. Okay? So you can do a oval, taper it at the top. Gonna make it wider and then come back in. And after you do a few of those, looking at this, then we're going to go back over here, maybe grab one and just kind of twirl it and see what we can come up with and see all the different shape. I can get that so super thin. I can also get it to go on its side and underneath itself. Like that. You do that triangle and then dip underneath. Okay? There's that leaf. You can shorten it and then turn it this way. Okay, so I'm going to keep doing this little leaf study, turning it every which way until I exhaust, you know, my options that I've really explored all the different ways this little leaf can be turned and still represent itself. And the thing is, is that when remember, our brain will sew all these shapes together, and we put them all together, and of course, it's a leaf, right? Of course it's a leaf. Okay, so there we go. That is steps one through three, and in part two, we are going to go over steps four through six and bring this all together. 10. Class Project Part 2 (steps 4-6): Okay, number four, we're gonna mind the gap. Remember our negative space, so I can come back here. I know that I've got a certain amount of space in between these nodes, right? I can look at the relative size of everything to really notice I'm gonna cut these bottom leaves off. Let's see. It just depends on our angle about the negative space that we want. If I turn this on its side like this, look how thin the leaves get and how much bigger our negative spaces here. But if I turn it this way, suddenly, these leaves show themselves to us. And I have less negative space in between those leaves. I can manipulate this how I want it, but I think there's the lesson in this plant. If I'm looking more down on it, I have less negative space. So if I see the face of the leaf more, I'll have less negative space in between the leaves than if I see a side leaf, I'll have more space in between leaves. What do I mean by this? This is our stem. Okay. So if I have leaves that are on its side coming out alternately. Here's the next one down here. If these suckers are on their sides more, I'm going to see more negative space in between these leaves. So I will go up. And then alternate so see how the leaves are on their sides, and I definitely have a larger gap of negative space in between these leaves. Okay? But if I look at it a little more this way and I see that the leaves I see the face of the leaf more. I discover I have less space in between these leaves. Oh Let's do another set. So in this example, I have less space, less negative space in between these leaves because I'm seeing more of the face of the leaf. Okay, the next thing we're going to do is we're gonna draw outward from our focal point. Okay, let's go back to where we set our focal point in our drawings. And I really liked how these were curving at big angles, right? So I'm gonna try to figure out how to do that. I'm gonna rotate my canvas. I can make this whole thing kind of sweep across. So I'm going to do, like, a combo of this and this. I'm just going to keep this in mind that I want this dynamic and I want it to really bend and flow. I'm gonna have to do this fairly large because my specimen is small, but my canvas is bigger, right? So I'm going to really set the stage. Actually, I'm going to one more time. I'm gonna do my canvas. And this is me double checking before I start my final project. Okay, here's this. Here's my canvas. And I really want this sucker to really bend. I definitely want this leaf in the frame, so I might have to bend this up just a little bit more. There we go. And I'm looking at the negative space. I'm looking at everything. I'm looking how this leaf is gonna come up and over and fill in this space here. This one's gonna fill in this space here. Yeah. And this will get bigger and bigger, fall off the frame. Okay. I think I'm pretty good. These will come up and off and over. Yeah, that's going to be very dynamic. Okay. Alright, I'm pretty good about that. Let's go back out here. We're going to draw outward from our focal point, which is going to be down here. And then we're also going to get out our number six, which is double check our proportions. So I'm going to make this first draw for my focal point. Make this first drawing from my focal point. And so I'm gonna put my leaf out. Boy, I'm noticing, too, the length of this little stem off of the stem. Well, it's pretty long. It's not as long as the leaf itself, but it's almost double. Okay, so if I have this leaf come out, there. The stem on this thing is going to be about this long, about this long, right there. So, suddenly, it's come over to about right here. So I'm gonna sweep that stem down. And then I've got this one that comes up and kind of bends my leaf relative to this, keeping the distance, the space. We're talking about our proportions now. See how I need to mind the gap in here. So this leaf needs to not come off until about right in here. Then it comes down to meet up. Alright. The next thing I'm noticing is this leaf right here is on top of all these others, so I have to do it next. I really don't have a choice. I see it sweeping clear out to here, which is past this bend. Someone maybe put a dot there. And then it's here, which is roughly out to there, which I'm gonna put a dot here. And really, this is just a flat leaf. I'm not seeing much of it. But I know it's in front of everything else, and it's really going to make this thing talk to us. 'Cause now I can come in. I can come in with my other leaf here. And this leaf that's behind it. Okay. Now, I'm coming around the bend. I'm curving it around. I'm coming up this way. I'm also seeing leaves that are skinny. This one's in front. This one goes down almost to this one. So check this out. I'm just minding my gap. I'm minding my dead space, my negative space, and trusting the process. So I'm going to come and now start filling in some of this branch. I'm going to catch this leaf that's back behind filling in this negative space here. Coming up. Doing the drawings of them every other. So here's this leaf coming off. Here's this one, this one, this one. It's either growing in every other orientation. This one's gonna come off here. We'll make it come back behind this one. Coming down the stem. I'm gonna start catching this one that's almost touching. It actually is touching, but it's coming off the stem way down here. All right. And then I've got another leaf that's coming up from clear down here. Got another leaf coming from way down here. This one right here. Coming up. Funny shape. Here's this one, filling in this whole negative space here, but it's kind of skinny, trusting the process. Alright, grabbing these last two leaves and then meet me in the next section where I will show you a next step you can take with your line drawing. 11. Gallery & Conclusion: Right. So that was pretty successful. So now I can just go back and, you know, slowly color in. I can use my watercolors, just filling the sin with some green. Just so we can see the difference from the leaves in the background. So as I finish this, I really want to encourage you guys to please post your final project on my page. I'd love to see what you create and how you enjoyed the six step process with different botanicals. I'm also gonna leave you with a little gallery, and I hope that they will inspire you to create more line drawings. Okay, great friends. I'm so glad you joined me for this class, and I can't wait to see you again. Talk to you very soon. Cheers. I'm Jules. This is my art vendor.