Learning How to Draw Florals (Part 2)
It’s showtime!
Well, it will be in just a few days from now.
I shared a while ago that I was approached to do some on-site, live calligraphy engraving at the local mall. I was super-excited about it! The person who reached out for the brand told me that they wanted engraving on fragrance bottles and that most folks usually want calligraphy and possibly some illustration.
Truth be told, I was here for the calligraphy part…the illustration, I wasn’t so sure about.
One of the great myths of artists is that they know how to do everything. But, that’s not necessarily true. There are many kinds of artists. You may be surprised to know that some of the greatest artists and designers don’t draw all that well (gasp!). But, they can draw well enough to communicate their ideas…and that’s all that matters.
In this case, in a traditional sense, I can draw pretty well. Growing up, I specialized in portraiture. When I got to art school, I had no problems tackling the human form. I found that I drew best from observation and fair from imagination….I loved depicting form…chiaroscuro, hatching, etc…Loved creating depth…and I always had a very difficult time simply letting go with doodling.
If there’s one thing I always struggled with the most drawing, it would be florals and botanicals using simple contour lines…which is the illustration I see most on perfume bottles. There are times there are shading techniques. But, most often, I’d doubt on-site events allow for that much time anyway. So, I needed to learn this.
Fave Floral Engravers
Check out the work of some of my favorite floral and calligraphy engraving artists to see where I went for inspiration:
I like all of these artists for different reasons. Their styles range from traditional to casual and playful. I enjoy every one and I love to see how they approach florals as well as a fragrance bottle compositionally.
I realized early on that once I could get over the mental jump of drawing simple flowers, I would still need to figure out how to design a floral composition…and then how to place it. That’s a tall order!
So…technically, this post could have been named, “Start Before You’re Ready” because that’s exactly what I was doing when I said ‘yes’ to this opportunity. But, from that time until now, I’ve been focused on stepping my game up with floral line illustrations for this event…and here’s where I got with that…
Let’s just say, used glass bottles are a treasure around this house anymore. These soda bottles are simply great for practice! We’d drink this great ginger beer we’d get from Target, and then stockpile the heck out of them…to the dismay of all of our visitors, I’m sure. But, after the label comes off, you can place your design anywhere on these things! I have bottles with just a mess of calligraphy and flourishes and florals all over them. Just trying stuff out.
Now, again, this was great for practicing simple florals in isolation. But, at the end of the day, when it comes to composing a design on a fragrance bottle…if your canvas is going to have signage and labels, ridges and what not, practicing on surfaces with plain open space is probably not going to be enough. 🤷🏾♀️
In-Studio Floral Engraving
Fortunately, I had a few other fragrance bottles I could use to practice on for this event. I’d have loved a bit more variety. But, as more money seems to keep going toward art, we’re fresh out of funds for fragrances ‘round these parts! 😂
This bottle of Versace Eros Pour Femme Eau de Toilette has signage on the front along with the head of a Medusa in relief emerging from the surface. It was a lot to look at already on its own. So, I flipped it on its back. I imagine this could also have been a wreath with a small quote inside.
My bottle of Jo Malone Mi Amour also has some writing on the front. It actually had space for writing…but since it was a plastic piece (engraveable, but not the most enjoyable), I decided to turn the bottle on the side instead.
This Coach Eau de Parfum Spray is in an oval bottle. It has softer, rounder curves for edges than the Versace bottle. There’s plenty of space on the front around it’s horse-driven coach symbol…and I’m not saying I’ll leave that alone forever…But since I had already lettered on the back when I first got my engraver, I just added some florals to it. After I finished it, I felt the calligraphy and these florals looked like they were done by two different people, and there was much more space that could’ve been planned out better if it could be done all over again from the top. But, it’s mine anyway so no harm, no foul. 😌
So, while there’s, of course, much more to learn after this, I’m feeling way more comfortable now.
Either way, had I said ‘No’ instead to this opportunity, I may have put off even attempting florals for who knows how much longer…and then I wouldn’t have this awesome bottle collection!
So, if you are staring down the barrel of a challenge or opportunity, and you’ve been dabbling in it anyway, go ahead and take the jump! Never know what you are capable of until you try!
