Labradors - stage 2

Raven - stage 2

How could you refuse those eyes? I don’t know what captured his attention or what he was patiently waiting for but I’m sure he got it looking like that.

Not much more to do – all going well I should have Raven finished tomorrow and I can make a start on Sam.

Some progress

A Work in Progress

I managed to spend a few uninterrupted, pleasurable hours on this yesterday, working mostly on the shoulder/chest area trying to portray all these beautiful muscles. Will be turning my attention to the mane next which incidentally is my least favourite part – strange I know considering I love drawing hair.

Black Lab - a WIP

I love Labradors and they’re definitely up there when it comes to my favourite breed of dog. I’ve drawn the yellow and chocolate and wanted the opportunity to do the black so was delighted when I got not one, but three, to do (one double), almost one after the other. What is it they say about buses:)

I’m currently working my way through the second of the three on my list. This one is a double portrait and I thought I would show some progress shots for anyone interested in how my drawings come together.

This is Audley, coloured pencil (as if I need to tell you that) on Fabriano paper. I must admit to having been unsure of the reference photo I worked from to begin with, but while working on his portrait actually think it shows a lot of his character. His owners certainly think so.

Tomorrow I will show you Lola - you can see a bit of her ear on the last pic.

Almost forgot

12x16 acrylic and coloured pencil

Remember this one? I didn't until I came across it again while tidying and sorting out my studio and remembered I hadn't actually finished the WIP on my blog. So this is the final stage, currently titleless, but with whiskers and a background added. I'm still undecided about whether I like working with coloured pencils on Ampersand Pastelbord - I lean more towards 'like' but need to complete a few more to fully make my mind up.

What you see has been cropped, thanks to my scanner, and the dog actually sits more to the right of the composition rather than centred as she looks here. Once I get my printer set up - or should I say, once I build an extension to house it (it's HUGE) and take a proper photo, I plan to turn this into prints.

A WIP - Part One

I love trying out new supports to work on when I can - cue Ampersand Pastelbord. I have various sizes and colours of this sitting around waiting to be used and thought it was about time I tried it out.

For those of you who may not have heard of Pastelbord it is, and I quote, "a clay and gesso coated hardboard panel with a granular marble dust finish comparable to a sanded pastel paper except more durable and more versatile." Sounds like it could eat my pencils but I was eager to try it out all the same and see what it could do. And why not have my efforts shown as a WIP. So here it is.....

Stage 1: Adding the darks. I wanted to start with an acrylic underpainting before adding any pencils - this would/should reduce the number of hours spent using coloured pencils. Was pleasantly surprised with how the paint took to this surface and really liked the effects achieved when doing wet in wet. Also found the washes stayed wet for longer which gets a big thumbs up from me.

Stage 2: The underpainting finished. At this stage I know I should be thinking about a background and have this washed in but, as is usually the case when it comes to backgrounds, can't decide what I want to do so leave it as it is for now. I do know I want to do a lot more painting on Pastelbord.

Stage 3: Adding coloured pencil. Start with the eyes, as always, and work on her nose and mouth. I was right, it does eat my pencils! Not sure yet if I like working with coloured pencils on this support.

Stage 4: Adding yet more coloured pencil. Nose and mouth area more or less finished apart from the inevitable tidying up here and there at the end. Building up the colours on her face and ear - not having to do as many layers thanks to the underpainting. STILL thinking about a background, even when I'm not working on it!

Stage 5: Latest update. This is the stage I am at now - working my way down the neck area. Next step is putting in that background.