Fuchsias In My Garden - A little Experiment

I am fascinated by botanical art, in both watercolour and coloured pencils. A true botanical artist can recreate incredibly detailed and accurate pictures. Indeed, historically, botanical artists were used to document new plants, before the era of photography.

Whilst I don't aspire to that level of skill, I do love the detail and realism. This picture was created as an experiment. Would I prefer watercolour or pencils? The image on the left started out as a watercolour but I was struggling and I hated it. I left it incomplete and started the one on the right only in pencil. Without a doubt, it was so much better. So that seemed to be the answer? But then I went back to the watercolour and began to use the pencils on top. Suddenly it came to life and now I like them equally, possibly the lefthand one more so. 

Using watercolour as a base for coloured pencils is not unusual but not something I have been interested in. But I think I may now have to change my mind..... Welcome to the mad, confused world of a wannabe artist.