A Daffy Design

It all started with a vase of daffodils. 

I was sketching with the ladies at the Yocum Institute for the Arts during the Thursday afternoon open studio. I decided to practice lettering in my marker journal. I used an old poem "Daffodowndilly has come to town, in a yellow petticoat and a green gown." 

Well that didn't take very long. so I got out a sheet of watercolor paper and my new Neocolor II Water Soluble Wax Pastels. (See description below.)

I had fun with the Neocolor IIs, added some text, and glued it into my journal. Not the end of the story!

Two days later, as I was talking on the phone, I started to doodle some more daffodils. Later, I got out a sketchbook and continued the daffy fun.

Daffodils are quite complicated. I wanted to break them down into very simple lines. Here are two pages of pencil sketches. Next, I completed a page of Daffodil Doodles in my mixed media journal using a black Zig writer.

From which I made a transfer using tracing paper. I traced the daffy design onto a sheet of watercolor paper. I went over the lines with a black Zig writer. On this practice page, I tried out colors and a background using the Neocolor IIs. The ink lines looked a little dull after the colors were added so I tried to darker them with the Zig writer. I learned that the Zig writer would not write over the Neocolor IIs even after I let them dry thoroughly! I used the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen to darken the lines.

I studied the practice sheet and thought about what I liked best and what I would change. Then it was on to the next sheet of watercolor paper! 

This is the final page for today but probably not the last of the daffodil designs! I'm also thinking pansies, crocus, tulips .... I'm in a spring flower mood!