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Graphite pencil- the doodlers best friend. Who hasn't sat during a boring meeting and dooled shapes and sketches on the corners of paper? I work only with HB pencil lead in my drawings, which is also known as #2 pencils. I always work with mechanical pencils .7mm in size. This eliminates the need for sharpening. Other tools used along with my pencil are a gum erasure, my finger and tissue (no lotion) for blending and creating highlights.
Step 1: Select a photograph to work from.
Step 2: A pencil sketch is made on the peice of paper. The line drawing must be quite acurate for the drawing to turn out. I draw in lines to indicate shade changes and major body parts (eyes, nose, etc.)
Step 3: Begin shading. I like to start with my darkest darks first, which in this case is the nose, eyes, left ear and some of the gumlines. Don't ask me why I start with the darks first, just always have The eyes are VERY important to the finished drawing, however, unlike most people, I do not always do them at the beginning; I sometimes leave them for very last. This time I did them early on.
Step 4: I like to work from the right to the left. I use a piece of paper under my hand to minimize smearing the pencil areas I have completed. I use mostly lines to create the fur look. It is important to pay attention to the direction that the hair lays and make your pencil strokes in the same direction. The length of hair must also be observed. Short hair uses short strokes, longer hair uses longer strokes.
Step 5: Sadie's face is beginning to get personality to it. The contrast of darks and lights is beginning to make the face more three dimentional.
Step 6: The use of different length pencil strkes is creating difference in textures.
The drawing of Sadie is complete. The lower part of her chest is not as in focus in the picture as her face. I blur her chest a bit with a facial tissue. I come in with a gum erasure and pick up some highlights and clean up smudges. Last but not least I add details like the whiskers and my signature.
Here is a zoomed in shot that shows more specific details.
As you can see I did take some artistic liberty- to remove the strap of the collar and tag. I also made it look as if she is sitting, where in the photo she is laying down (her body extends to the right of the picture).
This image took about 6 hours to complete. The photograph for this imagewas provided for a commision. To learn how to commision your own original drawing click here.
Please ask before you take!