When I visited Sydney, Australia for the first time, I was mesmerized with plumeria flowers and decided to make a drawing of them. I never saw this tree bloom before, and its leaves looked familiar. Apparently, it’s just a look-a-like, but a completely different tree. It’s interesting how completely different things might look similar in very different parts of our world. At the time, I was experimenting with Copics, and drew this botanical sketch from life.
I was sitting on a bench underneath the shadow of plumeria tree in Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney Harbor. It was such a pleasant day. Since drawing requires observation, it also creates a more significant memory. Artist takes time to observe details and just spends more time in the moment rather than look once and move on. This is why I remember this day very well. Curious birds walked about me and occasional passer-by would ask what am I drawing. Art is a great conversation starter, and I really like when people begin a conversation about it. Sometimes, meeting a fascinating stranger is even much more fun than drawing.
For this particular plumeria drawing, I used shades of orange, yellow, green, brown, gray and pink. I had limited palette of Copics, so my color choices were quite conservative. One of these days, I hope to make another version of this drawing with my expanded palette. But for now, I hope you’ll enjoy this little sketch. It’s on A4 paper (8.27″ x 11.69″).
