Drawing Challenges, Contests, Competitions 🌿 Inkscape Challenge | 1 July 2022 - 31 July 2022
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Drawing Challenges, Contests, Competitions 🌿 Inkscape Challenge | 1 July 2022 - 31 July 2022
We challenge you to draw a leaf with Inkscape.
We also invite you to try our bonus challenges!
Banana, hemp, maple or thistle, what kind of leaf is up to you?
Everyone is invited to join in! Post your finished artwork below.
All entries to be submitted by 31 July 2022.
Please do spread the word!
#inkscapechallenge
Instructions/Information
We look forward to seeing your entries!
Challenge entries (so far)
For those interested in looking at a tutorial on how to draw ornamental leaves and how to create repeating patterns from your artwork, you can take a look at the links below.
Apologies, the website is not, yet, finished so expect a fair bit of missing content.
How to draw an acanthus leaf (in Inkscape)
https://svgartisan.net/blog/how-to-draw-an-acanthus-leaf/
How to create surface patterns with Inkscape
https://svgartisan.net/blog/how-to-create-surface-patterns-with-inkscape/
Dreamcatcher trying to use all parts of the magic plant and also some feathers. All very basic and on flat colors, with a slight noise texture as a mask 🌿
@mrks9 Well composed and a good palette choice! Thank you for getting the ball rolling!
Thanks, @pacer 😉
Pacer, thank you for the nice example to open this challenge and your tutorials.
Marcos, I like your design.
Mine below is a bit simpler, a child-like "illustrated" look. Giving the hint of leaves, out of my imagination.
(Perhaps too much like foliage and not strictly leaves?)
I chose the pink background as it seemed a good contrast with greens I used.
@ken10001000 I like the image. I don't think it looks like foliage, more like leaves with a certain abstract air. As for the colors, very nice. Complementary ones usually tend to work well. Great work 💯
@ken10001000 I really like these leaves. I can see the movement in them and the colors work well.
I am glad you like the banner and the tutorials.
@ken10001000 @mrks9
I wasn't too well recently, which is the reason doctormo and Lazur took over the artwork for May and June.
This month I have eased back in to the banner art with the leaf challenge, but I noted all your feedback and I have come up with a new series of challenges, to start next month.
If I am able, I will show the next challenge early to give you all a chance to come up with ideas.
If the tutorials help, I might do some more in the future.
Pacer, I am glad you are feeling better. And trust you will continue in your strengthening and peace.
Thank you, Pacer and Marcos. You both encourage me, and stir me to view things better and do things better. :D
I started drawing and felt this driven to this shape.
Simple, ubuntu-sytle-color, dark ambience mood leaves.
#InkscapeChallenge
@julioneto That looks very slick. A good use of color and an interesting style. Thank you for a beautiful entry.
@Grasshopper Attractive and well composed. I like the way you used the space to show movement. Thank you for your entry!
@pacer Best wishes. I hope it's nothing serious.
Here's a leaf boat of sorts on water! Thanks to that nifty new pattern tiling path effect in the new 1.2 version. Thanks!
@idmarillier Very imaginative. I have not seen anything like it. Thanks for a great entry!
Here is another piece. This time trying to play with transparencies and gradients. I upload another image with some retouch done with Gimp 🤔
@mrks9 Very nice. I am seeing notable progression. The lighting and color of this image really add to the realism. Great entry!
Thank you @Pacer for your tutorial. The one on the patterns will be very useful for me.
The theme of this month is pretty inspiring. I made this, well, I think you could call it an arabesque or a cul-de-lampe as it was inspired by this type of typographic ornament, if not really improved or revised.
I used my favourite drawing tool : Bézier tools, but with a feature I didn't really play with before. Sorry I don't know the English name for it, this is the second icon with which you make "perfect" curves. And also, I try my hand to the new Gradiant editing. A think to know, the leaves have two layers, a plain dark layer on the bottom and a gradient one on the top. When you copy-paste the leaf, it becomes darker, that gives this look (and I like it). When you duplicate it, the leaf keeps its original tone which green was paler. I don't know if it worked like that before (to be honest I almost never duplicated an object for some reason).
Thank you, @pacer Actually there is no progression, only experimentation. I mean, one step forward and two steps back usually. But it's fun. I've been going crazy trying to make the drops with a bunch of gradients and in the end I managed to make them in a simple way with 4 circles: one with mesh gradient, one for the shadow, one on top with the blend mode in Overlay and one for the highlights 😉
@Caradjine I love it, super decorative. The tool you're referring to is called Spiro path and yep, it's great for this kind of thing.
@Caradjine Beautiful work. Very ornate and well finished. I like the effect of the gradient on the leaves. Thank you for a beautiful entry!
I am glad you liked the pattern tutorial. I wrote it a while ago as I experimented with patterns myself. I wanted to come up with systems that would work for everyone every time.
@mrks9 In my opinion experiment is the only progression. Those who don't try new things, don't improve. :)
I have used this guitar also made in Inkscape some time ago to place a pattern that I have made following IronEcho Design's advice in this video that I highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q3JGJadkSM
@mrks9 You have done it now Marcos! There is no going back. You have raised the bar. Nice work. Keep it up. ;)
Marcos, excellent and very unique!!!
Thanks @pacer @ken10001000 I'm glad you like it 😉
@pacer thank you for your nice words. But I saw after that the centre of the garland was not exactly right: the distribution of the leaf veins was not right. I modified it accordingly (very easy with Inkscape 1.2, much more than before).
@mrks9 thank you to for your nice words and also for the name of the feature. Did I say you I love definitely your dreamcatcher. The colours are a rest to the eyes. And what it is interesting whit the two leaves you made is that they give different atmospheres. A good thing to know. The work on the guitar is stunning.
So, the good version of my first work. And I see several way to play with this drawing.
Still playing with the Spiro path (not that easy to use, though), and trying to follow Pacer's tutorial of an acanthus leaf. Well, don't blame the teacher if the leaves look like shrimps (for the dark ones) or cabbage leaves. This is just me 🙂 and I learned some things, that is fine.
It is flat. The "ground" is a copy-paste of the garland, blurred and with an effect (and I can't remember what it was because I tried several before).
@Caradjine Beautiful work. I'm pleased that the tutorial was useful to you. The leaves look good!
If you want any extra tips, or you have any questions let me know.
Small poster. Just for fun 💦
You sweet leafy thing. You "chlorophyll" my heart.
Nibble. Nibble.
Caterpillar munchies.
For some inspiration, sharing some recent uploads from openclipart on the theme.
(And as a reminder for myself.)
https://openclipart.org/detail/337560/vintage-ornament-116
https://openclipart.org/detail/337559/vintage-ornament-123
https://openclipart.org/detail/336651/vintage-arabic-flourish
Those are public domain traced versions of old prints.
Which in return are always a bit sloppy. They are always a great source for learning if one can reconstruct them manually.
I have been wanting to participate in the monthly contest for some time, but between one thing and another I never had time, this month I finally managed to do something and I really enjoyed making these simple leaves-themed graphics.
@mrks9 I really like your works!
@Gydey beautiful work and very well presented! Your patterns worked out really well, I think I like the top one best.
I'm glad you found time to enter. I would love to see entries from you in our future challenges.
@mrks9 nice poster. Reminds me of an outdoor swimming pool on a hot day.
@ken10001000 Your jokes are wonderfully cheesy. Keep it up! :)
@Lazur Those are beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Perhaps I will attempt another style at some point.
Leaf Erickson. Lots of good exploring outside.
@ken10001000 I have no idea the meaning of the slogan, but the pattern looks well put together. Great entry. :)
Thank you, Pacer.
This is supposed to be a joke, a pun, of sorts.
In history, Leif Erickon, a Viking, was from the Greenland area. And supposedly he reached North America many years before Christopher Columbus.
So my title, "Leaf" Erickson, was a play on his name.
Some Americans even pronounce "Leif" just as you would say "Leaf". And since he was from Greenland, on his "helmet", I have the phrase about still loving the green land. (Area with green ... leaves and all.)
And Leif Erickson was known to be an explorer. So, I referenced us all epxploring ... outside. As an encouragement to know and enjoy the outside world, with green leaves, heat, and beauty, and so much more.
Years ago I learned that if I need to "explain" a joke, it is probably not that funny. So, just chalk it up to my twisted or poor humor.
I like the "pattern" also. I am sure I could have done better.
Wanted to get this idea out of my head and into vector format.
Have a great day.
@ken10001000 What you have said is interesting. Your jokes may be quirky, but I still appreciate the artwork and the story. :)
Not new material but sharing it anyway. Here is an oldie.
Was a remix from this one:
https://openclipart.org/detail/288443/leaf-remix
Thought it was more autumn related though.
Also have some high-res scanned images from some leaves if there will be an autumn related challenge sometime.
@Lazur Very realistic. Really impressed with the detail. Thanks for sharing!
@Lazur It looks amazing! The colors, the textures, the relief of the nerve sheath tumors. Great work 💯
@pacer @mrks9 Thank you!
Doubt if I'll draw something similar these days, seem I've gotten less patient with the filter rendering/tweaking.
If there was a voronoi noise filter primitive, it'd be way more realistic with less hassle.
@Lazur Dude, that looks real. Mad skillz !
Hi. I chose again to do something more "symbolic" than realistic.
Started with a basic idea. Then used Filters > Overlays > Garden of Delights with original idea and applied a clip.
(To convey the thought of a greenish canopy of leaves.)
And then by altering the color, a sky like background showing through.
>If you want any extra tips, or you have any questions let me know.
Thank you @pacer, I don't need, right now, extra-tips (I really understood after posted the drawing how was the shape of the leaf).
@ken10001000, I like your world. The caterpillars and the joke on Leaf Eriksson were like very welcome rainy day in a hot summer for me.
My last submission, still arabesques, but with fleurons. I used the glyph, that I modified in some cases to have the leaves exactly where and how I wanted them to be on the "branches". I was inspired by the pretty nice work of @Gydey to show it. It isn't something that required a lot of skills.
So, there is the very beginning of the drawing (half of the garland), then two parts to form a symmetric shape with a fleuron in the centre. The empty shape and the shape full of fleurons. In the bottom, I was trying the new gradient editing features (I don't think it the best way for that, but, having the fleurons that way help a lot to work on the colours). Then, I made some remix of the last drawing, I already used these in some other works (a tutorial for LibreOffice Writer, and for another work still in progress).
Hi. I hope this does not upset Pacer.
More silliness awaits ...
One of my favorite old TV westerns was the show "Have Gun, Will Travel". It was about a paid for hire gentleman (gun fighter) who went around to help folks out of their troubles. The main character stood for principles but could and did fight. The actor who played him was Richard Boone.
Playing upon that tv show and tweaking the Leaf topic here, I made this graphic. I hope you sense some humor in it.
In this hot weather, sitting in the shade of a horse chestnut tree, with it's broad leaves, is a nice refuge from the sun.
@Ianp5a Awesome entry. I love the detail on your leaf. I hoe you don't mind. I added it as an attachment so it shows in our challenge gallery at the top.
Thanks for joining us on this challenge and for a brilliant entry!
(unfortunately it says "by pacer" on mouse over. Feel free to re-upload).
Our next challenge starts in a few days time. If you enjoy realistic art, I think you will like the next one. it would be great to see your entry, if you have the time.
@Ianp5a Really beautiful! Thanks for sharing 💯
Ian, very nice, expressive work.
@Ianp5a @Gydey @Lazur @Caradjine @idmarillier @Grasshopper @julioneto @ken10001000 @mrks9
Thank you all for taking part in the July Inkscape challenge. I have to say, looking at the gallery, there wasn't a single bad entry.
The August challenge is NOW LIVE and I'd love to see entries from you all this month.
https://inkscape.org/forums/competitions/inkscape-challenge-1-august-2022-31-august-2022/
I look forward to seeing your artwork!
Pacer
Challenge Admin