Two drawings and a chunky rat

An ink and pencil sketch I made recently from a photograph seen on Facebook. I doodled this spontaneously and gifted it, this lovely girl was saved from the meat trade. 

This detailed pencil drawing became a Christmas present, to the now grown up girl sitting with her beloved dog. Sadly in 2022 he crossed the rainbow bridge. 

And a rat made from a chunky cardigan and some denim off cuts that I gifted to a friend who is a self confessed lab rat, taking part in medical research. I think the rats face turned out well, his body is rather rotund. 

Best Compliment Ever ...

Well I don't very often draw people but when I do it's often for a really good friend! J asked me to draw her son so that she could surprise her parents, and presented me with this amazing photo which shows real cheeky character and I accepted the challenge! I also usually draw non furry faces in monochrome and J was happy with that. 

I chose to take out the seatbelt and therefore the sling since I couldn't see how the sling looked at the top. As I fashion my portraits in white-space the seat belt was going to look too prominent in the picture. If you draw portraits your self you will know how important the eyes are and in this photo our young man has a very distinctive highlight which I worked hard to get right. The eyes, and the shapes of our nose and lips are what makes us unique. Get these slightly wrong and your picture doesn't look like the person. 

Well I completed the portrait and waited for the time when J would present it to her parents, and after that I shared it to my Facebook page where Mum proudly shared it, writing something that made my day. She said, "the artist is so good I can't tell it apart from the photo. And she has captured my grandson's spirit of fun", and that's probably one of the best compliments ever!

Facing up to it - 3

I went back to the orthodontist to be 'adjusted' and it was back to soft food for a couple of days! 

This time I chose pink for my ligatures, and Mary was very happy to see me wearing her favourite colour. My wire was tightened, and then to provide extra tension if got fine wire in place of elastic on two right-hand teeth.

Can you say right-hand teeth? 

Here is a delightful drawing of a girl drawn by Mary who can't wait to be 7 soon. Which means the blog is also that old too. Eeep. 

A Cheetah called Tyson

Here is the most exotic pet I have immortalised, to date ....

As I began to work on him I did feel overwhelmed by all those little spots!

Of course I love to build up colour, which I began to do once I had mapped out most of his markings...

I created the markings on the bandana by using oil pastel over chalky pastels which I had blended using my finger, working as usual in coloured pencil for Tyson's fur and his deep eyes!

I worked on him for some time, and so it was hard to let him go, and I let him watch over me for a couple of days before it was time to ship him off!

Peanut The Beagle!

This is Peanut who was fun to draw with so many colours to build up the rich tan!

As you can see from Peanut's photo one of the eyes was clear and one was very much in shadow so I enjoyed the challenge of making the right eye reappear, using the left as a reference. 

White highlights show how the beagle has aged. At this point (below) the drawing looks almost done!

The final touch is the shading on the white parts of the dog, making the dog look three-dimensional in this area too!

I think Peanut is pleased with his portrait!

And so does his owner! 

Dog portrait anyone?

Look at this handsome chap! 

This year I am doing lots of pet portraits again, as we near Christmas. I always start by mapping in with black or dark brown ...

Then the fun part, layering on colours! 

Then suddenly, he will tell me he is finished! I hope it helps you to see the photograph I was working from, too xxx

Drawing time!

Here is a dog called Max. He has quite a lot of Alsatian in his barky self...

5 year old Mary sat next to me and had a go with pencils and felt-pens. 

And seven year old Matty also enjoyed colour mixing in making Max's portrait!

And so did I! Lots of progress pics for this guy on my Facebook page ...

Horsing around...

Here is Lily, horses are more challenging to draw as they are usually wearing head gear!

But I think I did ok with this commission. Contact me for information about pet portraits ....

Nounours, a special dog portrait!

This beautiful lady was really good fun to draw, with her shading and cuddly ruff of fur! Her owner was so pleased when the portrait arrived that I got a special surprise gift by return!

A Dog called Baxter!

Here are some WIP drawings on a characterful dog I just produced for a valentines present! The starting out I find difficult, as I only see part of the dog in front of me and I quickly want it to look right!

Then, once I have him all in, in this case I started with black, I can add in the other colours. I am working in coloured pencil here, and I make them very sharp with a blade! This is inportant for areas around the eyes and where fine hairs show up ...

Finally he is done, I can see from his eyes that he has collie in him!

One fish, two fish, red fish - blue fish!

A happy new year to you and all the best for 2013. Any resolutions? I am going to try and do the daily blog again xxxx

Another Dog Drawing ...

How I love to draw ....here i am building up colour and depth on a black, curly haired dog...some of you know that black dogs are not easy to draw!

And here is Archie, my friends dog, an older boy with a young heart! Archie I mean, not my friend! :-)

Peter and Jane?

No, this is my work - a snippet of one of the drawings for my children's book!

Two of a good friends children made wonderful models for this picture about having fun! http://www.herewearetogether.com/2012/07/19/drawings/

Pippn-Papillon! Pet Pawtrait!

The basic outline - pippin's eye were flashed-orange in the photograph, so i quickly fill the pupils in black, with an added white highlight ...

Putting in the mail colours, building up depth gently as I go ...

Looking very hard to pick out all the colours I can see, traces of strong pink and even blue for some of the shadows!

Sofa life - a pastel drawing!

WIP - Drawing Max ...

Drawn Dog!

Meet Herbie - hairy dogs are fun to draw! This pic is almost there!

WIP - Herbie

T-Shirt ready ...

This is a photograph and I have also scanned him, he just needs some editing and he will be lovely xxx

The purpose of a drawing ...

This kind of drawing I create in order to know, to carry away some information to work from, to sort out my ideas. It is done very rapidly, often with notes, and I really love its freshness! I will soon create 2 'car rats' based on these well-loved pets!