I bought a medium size poinsettia plant for the holidays to brighten the house. It is a good time to sketch them right now. Many of my last sketches have been from still life objects. It is my goal to hone my eye-hand coordination and try to accurately record the relationships of shapes as they are. What is neat about working from objects rather than photos is: if you're not sure about a petal or what is behind it, you can lift it with your pencil and examine it from different angles. You can't do that with a photo.
My sketches are detailed studies in my sketchbook - for practise and for reference for later paintings. Once I am very familiar with a subject I would like to paint it in a looser style or in a single stroke that suggests a petal instead of drawing it.
