This technique is fun to try, if you haven't before. Just tape off the area of the drawing, then swipe your graphite stick or soft pencil back and forward to cover the entire area. Then lift out shapes by using the corner of a kneaded eraser like a pencil, just draw the shapes you want. Then a few touches of charcoal pencil to give a bit of definition here and there. This is a bit like reductive monotype making, and that's fun, too.
And, as always, don't use a photograph. That will guarantee any drawing will be dead on arrival. Go from the actual model, in this case a giant dieffenbachia rescued years ago from the dumpster by a neighbor and brought to me, since he thinks I'm the local EMT for plants in distress. I had to do radical surgery on the original, to result in three flourishing plants.
