Midnight Bloom began as an experiment with colored pencil and Magic Marker, in an attempt to see how close I could get to realism. I created the background in charcoal, then used colored pencil and Magic Marker to bring the flower and butterfly to life, allowing the color and detail to stand out against the darker surroundings.

There isn’t a larger story behind the piece—it was really about challenging myself with the materials and exploring detail, texture, color, and realism. Midnight Bloom is simply the result of seeing how far I could push those techniques and what I could create with them.