Pencil drawing of Yew

This film shows me drawing a small sprig from the European Yew tree Taxus baccata in pencil. It's a simple film, focussing on the drawing and not involving any colour or painting.

It's been made in response to various requests over the years from viewers who want to see the drawing process that precedes the watercolour painting of a botanical illustration.

I chat about positioning the plant on the page, negative shape, composition, and a whole lot about how cool yew trees are. More on Yews can be found in the accompanying blog: https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2022/05/trees-yew/

Materials are:

Pencil: Pentel P205 0.5mm lead HB
Eraser: Factis Tri-24
Paper: Fluid 100 Hotpress from Global arts

I hope the pencil shows up ok, and that in some way this film helps you see how I go about drawing botanical subjects straight onto the page.

As with everything, practice makes perfect; I'm still far from perfect and have been doing it for 35 years, so don't feel discouraged if you're just starting out! It's all about looking, and giving it a go.

I talk about composition and about negative space in the film, as well as the yew tree. The associated blogs are listed below:

Composition: https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2014/03/composition-and-sketchbook-studies/
Negative space: https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2015/03/using-negative-space/
Yew tree: https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2022/05/trees-yew/
There's no such thing as cheating: https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2018/05/botanical-illustration-cheating-doesnt-exist/
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Видео Pencil drawing of Yew канала Lizzie Harper