working on this illustration for my friend & plant guru extraordinaire Peter Webb‘s forthcoming book
“How plants are Born; a story about relationships”
levels adjusted to sharpen the detail
inverted
thinking of adding some ink to emphasize the edges
and perhaps a bit of hand colouring next but it may well be best just left as is…
thank goodness for scanners!
to ink or not to ink that is the question…
Posted: June 25, 2020 by Mo Crow in It's Crow TimeTags: illustration, Peter Webb
Comments
It's Crow Time 
Mmmm…decisions.
Beautiful work Mo 🙂
(((Nancy))) i often take the work too far but scanning in stages means I can take that step back to the previous scan and with a bit of digital editing still have a usable image for reproduction, this was just a dream last century!
looks interesting…
(((Glennis))) I want to stitch it or engrave it on a rainbow coloured flash glass
How beautiful. The transparency and simplicity is always tantalising and always a little fear or uncertainty in bringing in the realm of colour. What to do. Is there a rush to decide ?
After hours of allowing the enchantment to flow through your discipline of sitting and breathing life out of the invisible and into the world, where do we find the courage to continue….or not ?
A question that can eat us all.
Pure enchantment
(((Pete))) it’s my first response to reading the chapters of your book! It will print out more clearly with a little ink to sharpen the edges and give more depth. The double rainbow circling the seedling could use a light wash in rainbow colours, will have a go but will print this first one out on some matte inkjet Somerset Rag… have started the next drawing of a double rainbow diving into the ground reflected in a water droplet hanging off a branch inside a rainbow, looking for an M.C.Escher trompe l’oeil effect
there aren’t enough words…stunning, Excellent, FINE , Superb,
and i love. love just graphite
(((Grace))) it’s all drawn in 5H graphite sharpened to a needle fine point. I love it as is but it will print out beautifully from this first scan, look forward to taking it further with a bit of ink and watercolour… and to treating myself to a brand new Winsor & Newton Series 7 000 brush tomorrow!
While I’ve been following, I’ve stopped commenting here and also have almost given up on social media but this! This is beautiful Mo! I love the subtlety of the pencil . . . even the inverted image. I think it’s truly stunning, ❤️
(((Wendy))) I love the shimmer in the graphite, will let it rest til the weekend…
I love the white on black. It has a simplicity of colour which emphasises the complexity of the pattern. Really beautiful.
(((Lana))) inverted the drawn lines become light
Yes, we’re so used to seeing black on white that when it’s inverted and becomes white on black it becomes mysterious like its beckoning us into another dimension. If you’re using these drawings to illustrate Peter’s book then they become truly representative of the complexity, mystery and wonder of plants.❤️
both the graphite & inverted image print out beautifully! bought the new ooo brush in town yesterday, steeling my nerves with some mending today to start inking the edges & hand colouring tomorrow, will have a go on a test piece first to get my hand in as it’s been awhile since I have used a brush and colour Pete is such an inspiration!
So enchanting and mystical looking. It’s hard to imagine the delicacy surviving the transition to ink, but what do I know?
(((Dee))) have started on the next drawing and just letting this one rest for a day or two while I consider how to go with it, as it’s an illustration designed for reproduction it’s trimmed down to fit my scanner bed so I can take lots of scans as the work progresses (or regresses as the case may be) that’s one of the great luxuries of this 21st C world, I can take a drawing way too far and always go back to a previous iteration, allowing myself to both erase & use white ink gel pens for the highlights helps too…
Love how delicate it is…thinking about the strength of that.
(((Deb))) thanks for the good words, did some inking in on an earlier iteration yesterday and will have a go with some colour on it this morning, then once my hand heart eye connection is feeling fluent will very carefullly add a hint of colour and ink to this one
oh, the fineness!
(((Jude))) am very sparingly adding a little low key watercolour…
pure eloquence. what a gift!
(((Acey))) the handcolouring is interesting, will be finished by Monday