Inktober Day 21: A Fraser magnolia leaf

Trying to draw fall leaves that are slowly senescing, turning colors of gold, burnt umber, and brown, and fading from green -- well, it's encouraged me to look much more closely at how the colors fade and change as the pigments break down.  So interesting to notice closely.  And hard to reflect with color, at least in my level of ability of it.

Today's leaf inspiration came from a Fraser magnolia leaf (Magnolia fraseri), a native deciduous magnolia.  It's the 3rd tree we've planted near the 100-yr old apartment next door (its gutter system is maybe not that old, but it's really leaky, so dumps all sort of water on this spot).  This tree has flourished, thanks to some gutter repair, better drainage, and homemade compost.  So nice to see.  Here's a view of it from May 23 of this year.

Interestingly, digital imaging of my drawing has made me realize that I needed to saturate the color in my drawing/watercolor pencil drawing more completely, but I'd already spent a hour doing it, which is enough time for me to devote to Inktober each day!

my drawing (close to the original)

this is more like the actual leaf

leaf and drawing