I was sketching a houseguest but having trouble conveying her depth and personality.  Impulsively, I brought in a poinsettia and drew it on both sides of her. Suddenly the slight tilt of her chin downward was echoed by several of the red leafs. The red leafs also accentuated the bits of red around the eye and in her hair. Altogether the new composition indicated more of the intricacy that characterizes this guest. I need to think more about how the addition of the poinsettia added complexity to the sketch and brought it closer to my goal of using images to tell a story through my sketches.

I used a water-soluble pencil, watercolor and color pencils.