Embroidered Collage

I thought I'd spend some more time this year working off of references.  The first sketch, to the left, was done directly from a photo in the Wetcanvas! image library.  I can see the tentativeness of the lines I made as I tried to reproduce the lines of the reference.  Part of the difficulty was that the angle of the photo wasn't directly on the wingspread, but slightly off so that the left wing should be foreshortened a bit, an aspect I didn't capture.  The second sketch to the left was an attempt to draw the same butterfly in a freer fashion. Instead it ended up distorted and child-like looking, at least to my eyes.

For a third try I decided to use an aid.  I sketched out guidelines with a pencil.  First, one across the wingspan, then a perpendicular one for the body, then diagonals for the remainder of the wings.  Then I picked up the pen again.  The result was more stylized, but appealing.  However, symmetry can be difficult.  If you're just a little off it can look wrong instead of interesting.  So I decided to try not worrying about it and just draw one wing to make the whole composition asymmetrical.

The concept worked out great.  I like the composition and enjoyed the drawing.  Unfortunately I felt I added one too many pattern lines to that first try.  Something about that feathered line bothers me.  So I tried it again.  I like this second attempt much better. 

Next I wil try adding color to a few of these sketches.