Drawing A Palm Tree With Colored Pencils

The other day I drew a picture of a palm tree with colored pencils. Palm trees are one of my favorite things to draw, and I am also inspired to create new imagery that feature these.

 

 

California Palm Tree by Julia Hanna

The drawing started out with an outline of the palm tree.

Outline drawing of the palm tree.
Outline drawing of the palm tree.
Coloring in the fronds of the palm tree.
Coloring in the fronds of the palm tree.
The palm fronds have been colored in.
The palm fronds have been colored in.
The completed palm tree drawing.
The completed palm tree drawing.

This video illustrates how I created the palm tree drawing.

Thoughts On The A to Z Challenge

The A to Z Challenge was fun while it lasted, but I think I might have overdone it by participating with two blogs. The people who commented back on my blog after I commented on theirs were very much appreciated, but I sort of wondered about those who never bothered to comment at all. I know there are many people participating in the challenge and there is no way to get back to everyone, but there were a couple of times I actually found a blog interesting, and made a few thoughtful comments. Some people would at least drop by later in the challenge, but some people did not comment at all.

I do not want to compel people to comment on my blog, but perhaps what I write about just does not ring bells. I enjoy sharing my passion for art as viewed from my world, but Sweetbearies Art Projects might just be the wall flower in the room where many other peacocks are prancing about. Even before I participate in challenges like this I tend to get search engine traffic, but what I write about does not elicit many comments. Well on my more opinion based blogs I get a few more, but even there I mostly just get people passing through.

I participated in the challenge because I hoped it would bolster comments on my blog because I do enjoy some dialogue, but I do not seem to court comments like some do. A few people will throw up a short post that will elicit hundreds of comments, but that has never been the case with me. I take the time to tweet others and share what I like, and whereas I noticed others did the same, some did not.

Also, I was perplexed about a couple of participants who said the were overwhelmed with the large number of comments they received, and gee, I wish that had been my problem ;). I am not trying to be questioning here, but why would someone participate in a blogging challenge if they did not want people to comment more on their blog? It also makes me think “Gee I guess my comments just are not that great,” and a bit apprehensive about commenting on a stranger’s blog when something they wrote really struck a cord. I feel like perhaps in the future I will have to be more generic with my comments because I felt like a couple of times people find mine to be boring, or perhaps annoying.  This was not the case with the majority of blogs, but it happened a couple of times when I left a genuine comment on a blog that I thought was quite engrossing.

Then again, I enjoy sharing my point of view, and that is what this challenge was about. If people do not like my opinions, then I cannot change that.  I appreciated the people who commented on my blog with their genuine comments, and I did endeavor to comment back to most everyone. I know we all have busy schedules, but many of us took the time out to comment and read. Some people did not finish the challenge, but it would have been nice if they had at least put up a blog post stating things had come up, so they were unable to comment on blogs or finish the challenge. When I went down the linky list seeing some people had only got to the letter D, or not even bothered to write any A to Z posts, I decided not to comment on those blogs.

This rant probably seems like I did not enjoy the A to Z Challenge, but actually I really loved it. There were many great participants, and I will have to go back to some of those people’s blogs to see what they are up to.  Some of my favorite blogs to visit were:

Reflections  Enroute:  This couple are teachers who have traveled the world, and I am envious of every place they have gone.

The View from the Top of the Ladder: I love her stories about growing up in California since I am also my native state, and her illustrations are beautiful.

A Bench With A View: I loved the views from Betty’s beach walks, and the photos of her corgi Koda.

My closing thoughts on the challenge for next year is to perhaps encourage participants to try and comment on the blogs of the people who take the time to visit you, or at least tweet a few posts.  I think if you are participating in a challenge like this that sharing what you enjoy reading helps to bolster the sense of community. Many are so adept at doing this, but I think we could all do more of it.  I am not sure if I will participate next year because I was beginning to feel like towards the end my blog will never be a place where people are jumping up and down to comment.  Also, it took quite a bit of time to pre-write the posts, and I think I overdid it with the two blogs.  That is why I am only writing the reflection on this one.

Taking time to reflect while admiring the lilacs.
Taking time to reflect while admiring the lilacs.