Spider Mums (Pastel Makeover BEFORE)

Spider Mums (Pastel Makeover BEFORE)
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

Several years ago, I was part of a drawing group; one artist would host, and we would get together and draw in the evening. I always worked with pastels, snagging any available flowers or fruit for my still-life setup. Time was always limited (we worked for two or three hours only) but I produced a number of good drawings with that group and really enjoyed their company. The other day, I came across three or four pastel drawings that I had started with the group but had not completed. This drawing of white spider mums is one of the pastels, and it really caught my eye when I found it. I really like the white flowers against the blue, but why hadn't I finished it? Well, time of course, but also the composition, which is obviously off center. No doubt I was so excited about the white flowers that I didn't notice till it was too late! I remember putting the drawing aside, thinking that sometime I would crop it to fix the composition, and then finish it. But when I found it last week, I decided to make it a project and do a make-over: take it to Red Brick, finish the drawing, and try to solve the compositional problem but without cropping the image. This is the BEFORE picture. To be continued. . .