Not happy with this one

Do you have a picture you were working from or is this memory? Overall I think you did a very nice job with a very difficult flower. Irises are not as easy or as straightforward to draw or paint as they appear and I applaud you for tackling it. Don't get discouraged at all with this! Here are some things I see.

(1) The leaf structure is wrong. It looks a little more like a tulip than an Iris. If you look closely at an Iris you will see that the edges tend to be a wavy or rippled (for lack of a better word). They aren't perfectly oval or round. In order to achieve that look you will need to make your edges less rigid than you currently have them. (does that make sense)? Also Iris leaves tend to be rippled on the inside of the leaf as well. They do not have very strong leaves so bends and waves within the leaf are normal.

(2) I am thinking that maybe there is a little too much white showing. I do not know though if that is the photograph or if that is just white. If it is white I would tone it down a bit and make it a lighter shade of purple.

(3) Does your iris have any yellow in the center? Sometimes they do and at the base of the leaf where it connects you will often see a splotch of yellow color that gradually radiates out onto the leave and blends in to the purple.

When painting or drawing an Iris think "loose" because that is what an Iris is. It's a free, loose, wild looking flower. Good job Terry!

TerryCurley said:

How can you homeschool if you work at a regular job too?

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He has work that I send with him to do during the day. Thankfully he is incredibly self disciplined and he does it. We check that in the evenings and we work on whatever else he needs to do for that day. That often take several hours out of our evenings. We sometimes work on weekends and we extend our school season almost year round (almost). We don't take extended breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas or spring break. I do allow breaks for periods when his extracurricular activities are really intense. He is in Awana, 4-H and soccer. He goes to Vacation Bible School and UK Soccer camp in the summer months. I try to get him involved with as many activities with other kids as I can to enhance his social exposure and believe me..the kid is a social butterfly!

I am one of the few homeschool parents who does this. Actually I may be the only one, I don't know. The key is organization. I have an organizer that I record days of school and activities done. I also purchase complete curriculums. He works in Abeka right now and that is a pretty intense program. He technically should be just finishing up 2nd grade (if he was in public school) but right now he is finishing up 3rd grade. What helps is he is incredibly smart and catches on very quickly. His reading is at least a 6th grade level. he LOVES to read. He seriously has two of the National Geographic 5,000 facts books that he takes with him to read just for fun. He has been doing cursive writing since first grade. His math is beyond anything I was doing at his age.

In addition to his seatwork I also have an online (complete curriculum) program that I use in the summer months. He really likes that program and is already asking when he is going to do his school on the computer.

I am a helper in his Awana group and I can see that he really is advanced in a lot of ways. At this moment he is the only child in his group to complete his book and is two sections away from finishing his reviews. If he does it (which I think he will)..he will be the first child in about 15 years to accomplish that task. Last year he got 4-H Booster of the year for the county. I give him the tools to succeed..and he does.

I am consistent, organized, and dedicated. I don't recommend it for everyone because it's difficult, very difficult, but it can be done. There are days we are all crying and have had enough. Those days - we close the books - and take a day off.

I have had numerous comments on how far advanced he is so I don't feel I am doing too bad.

Sorry for the long winded post..lol. I have had a lot of naysayers tell me it can't be done but I think he proves it can.