Saturday, September 04, 2010

Black Lab No 3

Work in Progress
Copyright Laura Hardie 2010

Wish my eyes were what they used to be 20 years ago! I’ve been noticing lately just how easy it is to over strain them if I spend too many hours drawing, and I’ve the headaches at the end of the day to prove it.

Not too much more left to do on my latest black Lab and then I’m going to put my pencils away for a while so I can play with paint again. I’ve been promising myself for long enough that I would dust of my brushes and I’m looking forward to it – I even have my first board drawn up ready to go but admit it looks a lot more daunting than a blank sheet of paper somehow.

And for anyone that's interested here are a couple of 'in progress' shots..........



Copyright Laura Hardie 2010

20 comments:

Sadami said...

Dear Laura,
Awesome...how beautiful... amazing!
Cheers, Sadami

Grahame Butler said...

Beautiful Laura.. I would be interested to know what grade of pencils you have used, and what surface you have drawn on?

Laura said...

Thank you Sadami and Grahame:-D

Grahame, I'm using Mars Lumograph pencils in grades 4H through to 7B and Mellotex paper. This is a new paper for me but find I'm liking it more and more - the blacks definately look darker on this paper compared to my Fabriano Artistico!

Grahame Butler said...

I use Mellotex all the time, I buy it from Mike Sibley, though I have found a paper supplier who sells it, but you have to buy large quantities at a time, I use the super white, but have around 10 sheets of ultra white that I will never use, so let me know if you ever need any in a hurry...

"JeanneG" said...

You are really getting a nice selection of black labs. Each one is gorgeous. I will miss your drawings when you stop to paint. And don't stay away from the drawing too long. I might have withdrawals.

Judy said...

Absolutely beautiful work as always.

Judy, Aus.

Laura said...

I got mine from Mike too but can't remember which I got now - think it might have been the ultra white but then again super white sounds familiar:-D Hopefully I'll have a note of it somewhere! And thanks for the offer Grahame, will definately keep that in mind:)

Thank you Jeanne - delighted you like them:-D And don't worry, I can't see me ditching my pencils for paint - I feel much more at home with a pencil in my hand than a brush but I am interested to see what I can do with one after such a long break:-D

Thank you Judy:-D

sue greco said...

Your black lab drawing is beautiful. What incredible pencil work!

Laura said...

Thank you Sue:-D

Unknown said...

Laura another great piece in the making. Excellent!

Unknown said...

Purely awesome!.

I would appreciate if you can let me know how you erase to bring values? You use eraser pencils?

dr

Laura said...

Thank you Sheona and Mark.

Mark, I don't erase to get my values but build them up with my pencils (for this drawing I have used pencils in grades 4H to 7B). I will use an electric eraser to sometimes work back into the fur and pick out certain hairs, etc, and I also use a putty rubber for the same reason. Hope this helps

Unknown said...

Thanks for the reply.

I visit several pencil artist's website regularly. you are unique - because of the detail of the skin folds, expression and hair flow that you are getting in your animal portraits.

If it is not too much to ask, can you post a small youtube clip of any of your workings?

I am learning on and thought could learn from pros like you.

Thanks again,

dr

Meera Rao said...

Your work is absolutely marvelous- your love of art comes through in their eyes!!!! I admire your patience :)

Laura said...

That is a great compliment Mark, thank you. Although I have often thought about I've never got round to doing a small video of me working on a pencil drawing - if I'm honest I'm hopeless at all things technical and so normally avoid it when I can. If I ever do pluck up the courage to do something like this though I'll be putting it on my blog so you wont miss it (providing you carry on following my blog of course:)) There are some great youtube videos of artists at work and have to say I thouroughly enjoy watching them.

Hi Meera and thank you for your kind words:)

Anna Schoolderman said...

What beautiful work Laura. I love it!

Carol Moore said...

Looking amazing! You really have captured wonderful expression and personality. The details are amazing.

Laura said...

Thank you Anna and Carol, your comments are much appreciated:-D

Anonymous said...

EXCELLENT work Laura. You are an inspiration - in fact I've gone and ordered some Mellotex Paper to try out. Have you ever tried CP on it? I usually use CP and Graphite on Stonehenge, but I'm intrigued to find out how Mellotex will take layers. Can't wait for your next post - I log on to your blog about 4 times a day eagerly awaiting the next update! When do we get to see your next painting?? Best wishes Claire :o)

Laura said...

Thank you Claire, I'm delighted you find my work inspiring:-D I haven't tried CP on Mellotex and can't say I would like to either. I found it to be a very smooth surface to work on with my pencils (which took a bit of getting used to:)) and need a paper with more tooth for my CP's as I like to build up many, many layers. I normally use Fabriano Artistico hp watercolour paper for my CP drawings but no longer like how 'off white' it is (it is almost yellow in comparison to the Mellotex!) so I'm going to try Fabriano 5 instead when using CP's.

I've been really bad in keeping my blog updated lately - sorry! I tend to update my FB page more often and have sadly neglected my blog in the process. I will be updating it more from now on though so please keep following:-D