Touch Me Not - Botanical Illustration

A peek into the process: creating a  floral illustration.

It starts with a pencil sketch, then I outline the shapes in a fine pen.  The color and plants in this piece were not planned ahead of time; they are entirely freehand.  Tested a new idea, got a little scared halfway through.  My illustrations are truly analog; the pencil scratch and eraser dance a million times to get the outlines.  My water colors, and gouache painting, is all guesswork, with no reference but my own instinct.  It’s me, and my gut, a memory and a constant trial.

I then applied all the shading and details using varied point sizes of ink pen.