Zinnias are one of my favorite types of flowers. Late summer, early autumn is one of my favorite times of the year, and that is when Zinnias shine. These jewel toned beauties remind me of those last, long sweet days of summer right before the air gets crisp.

I love the mix of colors, sizes and textures you can find in various seed mixes.

Zinnias like poor, clay soil and plenty of sun. That is a good thing, because that is what I have up here on this rocky top.

I enjoy making mixed bouquets with them and add other wildflowers I find in the field to compliment them. The bright purple of New England Asters (Aster novae-angliae), the pink of Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum) and the bright yellow of Goldenrod (Solidago) make excellent arrangement additions.

I used pastel pencils to create this sketch. I chose to sketch on black paper because I knew it would make the flowers pop.

I marked out a grid in the center of the paper in pencil. Then I lightly sketched in the flowers and the central “buttons” in the middle of each flower.

This paper has a little texture so it grabbed the soft pastels really well, and pastels are fun because they blend so easily. Nice combination.

I enjoy how much this pops out of the paper.

Liz