Revisiting the Poppies

I saw an article about using my favourite markers on vellum, so I experimented on a new sketch of the poppies and irises from my June 13th post.

I didn't like the process. The vellum is so smooth and non-porous that the ink sort of beads up. If you touch it while it's wet, you'll end up wearing it. (Don't ask how I discovered this.) The first layer or two dried pale, chalky and boring. I almost threw it out. Then I thought "well, what the heck, nothing to lose," so I added some stronger colours, scribbled with a coloured pencil, and touched up my wimpy ink lines with a thicker pen. From beginning to end, everything seemed to be fighting me. But somehow I ended up liking the result.

So now I'm wondering, "Is it worth going through an annoying process to get a decent sketch?" The jury's still out on that question.