{"id":7541,"date":"2020-10-18T12:19:59","date_gmt":"2020-10-18T12:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/?p=7541"},"modified":"2023-11-21T01:31:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T01:31:21","slug":"lilac-leaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/","title":{"rendered":"Lilac Leaves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lilac<\/a>I don\u2019t know why my process didn\u2019t work as usual this time, but for some reason my muse was not in the game. It took a very long time to find a subject to draw. I took dozens of photos every day, but no single shot captured my attention in that special way that made me want to draw it.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I can easily see a shot, sometimes I can set one up, but most of the time I find them hiding in the many extra photos I take. I shuffle though them, crop them, and run them through filters to shake up my way of looking at them to find a gem. In any case, though, I\u2019ve got to get that feeling of \u2018eureka.\u2019<\/p>\n

Muses, as you know, work on their own schedule, so I had to wait. I finally found this shot of next year\u2019s buds in my lilac bush that caught my attention, and was I captivated by the way this year\u2019s leaves curved through space around them. (The buds are quite small, so you might not spot them immediately.)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m using Aches hotpress watercolor paper and Mars Lumograph pencils to draw this piece. I chose the Arches paper because of its texture and the Lumograph pencils because of their quality. Other pencils can create the same beautiful grainy \u2018wash\u2019 effect that I love, but I\u2019m spoiled by the Lumograph\u2019s graphite quality and range.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Lilac<\/a>As always, I start with a tracing that I consider a sort of map. I partially erase the tracing lines and re-draw the part of the drawing I\u2019m working on with more detail. The original tracing lines help keep the drawing in proportion.<\/p>\n

The first part of the drawing is always a little up in the air because I\u2019m figuring out which pencils to use to create the values. These beginning leaf values were at an odd place between pencil grades, which made getting to the correct value a bit of a challenge.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Lilac<\/a>Once I figured out which pencils were needed to create the values, the leaves were fairly straight forward to draw. They are really just large gradations of value with veins and stems. I created the veins in the leaves by outlining where I wanted them, and then by hatching around those lines. Then I added value to the veins afterward, if needed, with a harder pencil. I drew the lighter leaf edges by just hatching short of the edge.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Lilac<\/a>I made this leaf look like it\u2019s curving back into space by shading the \u2018curved\u2019 edge slightly darker than the rest of the leaf, and then by softening that edge. To soften an edge, I use a sharp lead to create 45 degree angled hatching that overlaps the edge slightly. That blurs the edge, or \u2018softens\u2019 it.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Lilac<\/a>The area under the leaf buds is the only place where this drawing has any real depth. It\u2019s also the focal point of the drawing, so I was concerned that the buds look oddly “outlined” in the photo and I couldn’t extract much more visual information about them. (You’ll have to enlarge the image to see what I mean.) I hope the buds look real enough next to all these heavily gradated leaves.<\/p>\n

I was originally tempted to draw the buds larger than what they were in the photo to emphasize them, but decided not to because I thought any attempt of that type might make them look even more artificial.<\/p>\n

A masking tape edge has come loose, lifted, and folded over on itself, so a section of one edge of my drawing is now ragged looking. I\u2019ll have to fix it after I remove the tape, which will be a pain. I use Scotch Low Tack Artist Tape, and this has never happened before. Damn.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Lilac<\/a>Conclusion<\/strong>
\nThe most challenging part of this drawing was keeping the leaves in the same relative value to each other and also to the other leaves in the picture. My results were varied, but I think the drawing still works.<\/p>\n

This drawing is lighter in key than the photo (below), however I was not trying to create a photo-perfect drawing, and I\u2019m happy with how this turned out. The leaves do define their positions in space, and the small leaf buds stand out well enough. The drawing reminds me that as one season ends, another prepares to emerge. I like that.<\/p>\n

Keep drawing everyone,
\nCarol<\/p>\n

\"lilac<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know why my process didn\u2019t work as usual this time, but for some reason my muse was not in the game. It took a very long time to find a subject to draw. I took dozens of photos every day, but no single shot captured my attention in that special way that made … Continue reading “Lilac Leaves”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[138],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-graphite-pencil-drawing-lesson"],"yoast_head":"\nLilac Leaves - Carol's Drawing Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lilac Leaves - Carol's Drawing Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I don\u2019t know why my process didn\u2019t work as usual this time, but for some reason my muse was not in the game. It took a very long time to find a subject to draw. I took dozens of photos every day, but no single shot captured my attention in that special way that made … Continue reading "Lilac Leaves"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Carol's Drawing Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-18T12:19:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-21T01:31:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carol\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carol\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carol\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a4d245062c819bedd53d57134797e17\"},\"headline\":\"Lilac Leaves\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-18T12:19:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-21T01:31:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":760,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a4d245062c819bedd53d57134797e17\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Graphite Pencil Drawing Lesson\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lilac Leaves - Carol's Drawing Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-18T12:19:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-21T01:31:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg?fit=500%2C526&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg?fit=500%2C526&ssl=1\",\"width\":500,\"height\":526,\"caption\":\"Lilac Leaves\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/lilac-leaves\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lilac Leaves\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Carol's Drawing Blog\",\"description\":\"Drawing lessons and art by Carol Rosinski of Toad Hollow Studio.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a4d245062c819bedd53d57134797e17\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a4d245062c819bedd53d57134797e17\",\"name\":\"Carol\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/cropped-sunflower-atc.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/cropped-sunflower-atc.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/cropped-sunflower-atc.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Carol\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/cropped-sunflower-atc.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\"},\"description\":\"I'm an artist, an accidental author, and lover of life. I grew up in Yorktown, Indiana, and I've been writing (and drawing) this website since 1999.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/toadhollowstudio.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\\\/wp_blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lilac Leaves - Carol's Drawing Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lilac Leaves - Carol's Drawing Blog","og_description":"I don\u2019t know why my process didn\u2019t work as usual this time, but for some reason my muse was not in the game. It took a very long time to find a subject to draw. I took dozens of photos every day, but no single shot captured my attention in that special way that made … Continue reading \"Lilac Leaves\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/","og_site_name":"Carol's Drawing Blog","article_published_time":"2020-10-18T12:19:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-21T01:31:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Carol","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carol","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/"},"author":{"name":"Carol","@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4d245062c819bedd53d57134797e17"},"headline":"Lilac Leaves","datePublished":"2020-10-18T12:19:59+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-21T01:31:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/"},"wordCount":760,"commentCount":4,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4d245062c819bedd53d57134797e17"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg","articleSection":["Graphite Pencil Drawing Lesson"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/","url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/","name":"Lilac Leaves - Carol's Drawing Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-18T12:19:59+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-21T01:31:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg?fit=500%2C526&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves05-rosinski.jpg?fit=500%2C526&ssl=1","width":500,"height":526,"caption":"Lilac Leaves"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2020\/10\/lilac-leaves\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lilac Leaves"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/","name":"Carol's Drawing Blog","description":"Drawing lessons and art by Carol Rosinski of Toad Hollow Studio.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4d245062c819bedd53d57134797e17"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4d245062c819bedd53d57134797e17","name":"Carol","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/cropped-sunflower-atc.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/cropped-sunflower-atc.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/cropped-sunflower-atc.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Carol"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/cropped-sunflower-atc.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1"},"description":"I'm an artist, an accidental author, and lover of life. I grew up in Yorktown, Indiana, and I've been writing (and drawing) this website since 1999.","sameAs":["http:\/\/toadhollowstudio.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1r5dp-1XD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15523,"url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2025\/05\/lilac-leaves-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":7541,"position":0},"title":"Lilac Leaves","author":"Carol","date":"2025\/05\/18","format":false,"excerpt":"Before I begin, I would like to address two items: blog maintenance and a personal note. The images have stopped appearing in the blog sent to my mailbox, and I assume they are not appearing in your version either. I\u2019m trying to find out why. I\u2019ve toggled off an application\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Drawing Technique"","block_context":{"text":"Drawing Technique","link":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/category\/drawing-technique-48\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lilac leaves drawing step five.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Lilac-Leaves011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Lilac-Leaves011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Lilac-Leaves011.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":196,"url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2007\/05\/lilacs\/","url_meta":{"origin":7541,"position":1},"title":"Lilacs","author":"Carol","date":"2007\/05\/03","format":false,"excerpt":"Our Lilacs are blooming. The late freeze we had a few weeks ago took its toll on them, but we do have some blossoms now. I have some sort of bronchitis bug that has turned ugly these last few days, so I cut a single cluster to bring inside to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-diddle-dee-dee"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-diddle-dee-dee","link":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/category\/hi-diddle-dee-dee\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":230,"url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2007\/09\/drawing-the-wind\/","url_meta":{"origin":7541,"position":2},"title":"Drawing the Wind","author":"Carol","date":"2007\/09\/19","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes a drawing is a sure thing. I've got lots of reference photos and I can clearly visualize how I want it to look. Sometimes what I want to draw is the feeling evoked by a scene. Now that's trickier. Drawing a feeling is like drawing the wind. You can't.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-diddle-dee-dee"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-diddle-dee-dee","link":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/category\/hi-diddle-dee-dee\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5808,"url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2019\/02\/hosta-leaf-drawing-in-graphite\/","url_meta":{"origin":7541,"position":3},"title":"Hosta Leaf Drawing In Graphite","author":"Carol","date":"2019\/02\/01","format":false,"excerpt":"My Hosta leaves turned yellow, fell over, and did amazing textural things this autumn. My dog Dot and I were outside just as the sun was low and casting shadows over them too. We\u2019d been quietly enjoying ourselves and taking photos in the corner of the yard where they grow,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bipolar"","block_context":{"text":"Bipolar","link":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/category\/bipolar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Host Leaf in Autumn by C. Rosinski","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Hosta-Leaf-12-rosinski-300x235.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12929,"url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2024\/02\/redbud-leaves-in-graphite\/","url_meta":{"origin":7541,"position":4},"title":"Redbud Leaves In Graphite","author":"Carol","date":"2024\/02\/16","format":false,"excerpt":"I took the reference photo for this drawing in early autumn before the leaves changed color. The leaves were in beautiful lighting but dangling over ground ivy, which I had no interest in drawing. When I looked through my photos, I kept returning to this shot because the leaves were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Graphite Pencil Drawing Lesson"","block_context":{"text":"Graphite Pencil Drawing Lesson","link":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/category\/graphite-pencil-drawing-lesson\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Redbud leaves step three","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/stems03.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":354,"url":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2009\/01\/roots-wip-a-little-farther-along\/","url_meta":{"origin":7541,"position":5},"title":"Roots – WIP a Little Farther Along","author":"Carol","date":"2009\/01\/12","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's where I am on Roots. As you can see, I'm working in the details using small squares. To do that I cut small squares out of paper (masks) and place them around an area to draw. Masks keep me focused on one area at a time so I can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Drawings"","block_context":{"text":"My Drawings","link":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/category\/my-drawings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roots WIP","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/roots_drawing_4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7541"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12176,"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7541\/revisions\/12176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}