Points of interest: Build up vegetation

Adding leaf veins

I use a dip pen and masking fluid to create the veins of some of the leaves. After the masking fluid has completely dried I add another layer of green to the area. It’s important to not add too much dark green on top, because the contrast between the vein and the rest of the leaf would then be too much.

Picking up paint

I hadn’t planned on adding flowers to the foliage, but I feel there needs to be something more. With a clean brush and some water I’m able to pick up some of the dark green, creating petal shapes and detailing those with some yellow and orange to create subtle flowers. Together with the red berries they balance things out perfectly.

Softening and pushing back

After I’ve gently rubbed off the masking fluid from the completely dry paper I soften the edges of some of the veins, and even go over them in a light wash of colour to push them back a bit. I don’t want them to stand out too much and distract from the overall image.

Never lose sight of typography

Because the top and bottom of this piece will be covered in typography I make sure that the edges of the leaves are softened up and disappear into the background texture. It’s all about the suggestion of leaves in these areas; I want to avoid them competing with the typography on top.

The devil is in the detail

I’m using detail to draw attention to where I want the viewer to focus on. I’ve done this with the leaves: those around her face are more detailed, but most of them are also pointing inwards towards her eyes. Contrast is created by applying softer textures to her face.