Turning over a new leaf

Prismacolor colored pencil, 6" x 6"

(Well, I'm not really turning over a new leaf, but calling my post "Rotating an Autumn Leaf" just didn't have the same ring to it.)

While I never draw digitally, I do rely on the computer for those non-invasive tweaks that can make or break the finished product. First up:  the rotation tool in Photoshop. The drawing  below shows how I originally envisioned the piece. But as I drew it, it began to look so static and lifeless to me. But with just a bit of rotating, it seemed to take on more movement and became a floating, falling leaf! 

I could even crop off the top a bit for this effect...I'm undecided on this one:

The next digital tools that came to my aid were my iPhone camera and iPad. (I know, this sounds like an Apple commercial.) I knew that the beautiful leaf was going to start drying out and losing its vibrancy before my drawing was done, so I clicked some pics on my phone. Thanks to the iCloud, (Sheesh, now I really sound like an Apple ad...) the pics popped up on my iPad and I could use it as my "model" instead!

So, what do you think? 

Do you like the "rotated" leaf better too?  

The never-ending gourd drawing

5" x 7" Prismacolor colored pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum

"Know when to stop." Well, I'm not sure that I stopped at the right time on this piece—some areas are a bit overdone, others could use more work—but sometimes you have had enough of one drawing, you know? I love pumpkins, squashes and gourds—their amazing colors and their lumpy, bumpy shapes are such fun to draw. (In fact, the turban squash that I drew a couple of years ago is still one of my favorite drawings.)  And they're very forgiving; who's going to know if you moved the bumps around a bit?

Here are some shots I took along the way. (Obviously, I'm not great at color-correcting scans and photos, and I find that orange tones are some of the trickiest!)