I’m still tweaking this but it’s close. I decided to go more deco than detail on this one. To get this far I used a combination of tricks. The original sketch was very loosely drawn in my sketchbook. In order to get the top radius just right I drew that with my CAD software. I also did the lily pad ellipse in CAD. Then I sketched in the flower and the base. I placed vellum over that and redrew the entire image, except I enlarged the fly and added double lines. In order to get an exact mirror image of the fly I folded over the vellum and traced the reverse image of the fly on the right. I put the circle in last and noticed it’s not symmetrical. So that’s what I’m fixing tomorrow. Then I’ll scan the image and open it with Autodesk Sketch to play with some color schemes. My goal is to complete this sketch by Friday so I can start cutting this weekend. I’ll be using carbon paper to transfer this image to my block.
The Heron 
Your drawing looks really cool. Thanks for being willing to experiment here in your blog by playing around with new techniques and styles. It’s fun to watch and, as always, helps stir the idea pot.
Cheers.
Thanks Annette,
If I could be an idea mixer I would like to be a gigantic wooden spoon…not one of those fancy metal cake mixers…those are scary…ha!
I’m with you there – wooden spoons all the way!