Tulip Petal Study #1

I always buy tulips in the spring.  This year I got some that were variegated, sort of a mauve and white.  When they started to curl and die, I was attacted to the shapes, colors, and the veins in the papery thin petals. I thought it would be interesting to draw them, maybe put together some nice color combinations.  So I bought about every color of tulip available just to see how they looked when they dried. For a while there it was "tulip overload" at our house and I'm a little ashamed to say I couldn't wait till they were dead.

The variegated variety were the most interesting.  Tulip Petal Study #1, in colored pencil, is of a stunning red and yellow parrot tulip that dried beautifully.