Just completed a colored pencil portrait in memory of this beautiful Golden Retriever named Sequoia.

Blue Merle Collie - Brodie

This is a portrait of my blue merle collie, Brodie. He's 6-years old and I just got around to doing a portrait of him!

I completed the colored pencil portrait with Prismacolor and Derwent pencils. I used Turpenoid to blend the background and leaves, just to make the process a little quicker.

The portrait is 9X12 on Bristol Vellum.

Portrait of My Grandson, Sam

Sam

This is a colored pencil portrait of my grandson, Sam. The picture was taken on his first birthday and I thought it would be a wonderful keepsake of that special day.

The portrait painting is 9X12, created on Canson heavyweight drawing paper. I used Prismacolor colored pencils for most of the portrait with a few Derwent coloursofts.

Odin, the Great Dane Puppy

Odin, the Great Dane Puppy

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This is an 8X10 portrait of my daughter's Great Dane, Odin. He is 160 pounds now, at least the last time I checked. His weight goes up daily it seems. The reference photo I used to draw the portrait was taken when he was about 10 weeks old. I gave the finished puppy portrait of Odin to my daughter as a birthday present.

When I began working on the background, I decided to try oil pastels, rather than colored pencils. I wanted to keep the background light, so the pastels worked out well for that.  They were also a lot quicker than doing the whole background with colored pencils.

I completed the background after drawing in the rough sketch of the dog, then began with Odin's eye. I used a combination of colors including: jasmine, goldenrod, yellow ochre, burnt ochre, dark umber, indigo and shades of gray. I darkened the rim of Odin's eye with indigo, sepia, dark umber and terra cotta.

The fur on the dog's head and back took many layers of colors. I layered cream, jasmine, yellow ochre and goldenrod for the lighter fur. For shadows like the wrinkles ontop of his head and around the ear, I layered goldenrod, dark brown, tuscan red, burnt ochre, sienna brown and black grape. I also used peach for the area between his toes, as well as cream and white.

I had to make sure that the shadows and highlights remained visible to give shape to Odin's snout.  I find black dogs or black areas difficult, so I really have to be aware of the shadows and highlights that are going on. To make the black areas in his snout have depth, I used many shades of gray, for instance French greys in various tones and cool greys. I also used layers of indigo, black grape, dark purple and lightly added black for more definition. These are the colors I used for the dog's nose, as well.

I applied four layers of workable fixative when I thought the portrait was done. After looking at it for awhile, I decided to add more layers of color overall to deepen the tones. Workable fixative is great because it allows you to make adjustments afterward. If I had used a permanent fixative, I would not have been able to add extra colors.

Take a look at the Step-by-Step slideshow that displays how I work with Prismacolor colored pencils and the color and fur progression.

"Soul Mates" Portrait

Here is a step-by-step 9X12 portrait of a little girl and her dog.  It was done using Prismacolor colored pencils on Canson heavyweight drawing paper.

I worked on an overall wash of indigo blue, leaving the lightest areas untouched. Next, I added dark umber to the grassy areas.  Using an electric eraser, I erased blades of grass and filled them with apple green, canary yellow, and white. I used the same greens for the leaves and darkened areas with more indigo and tuscan red.

 
 In this step, I began the dog.  He is a newfoundland/saint bernard mix. I began with the eyes and nose because I find them to be the hardest to work on.  Once they were done, I added fur direction to the face and body with indigo blue, dark green, and red.  I think layering the colors to make black gives more depth to the fur.

 Here, I began working on the little girl's eyes and mouth first.  I also applied a light layer of peach to the shadows in the face and then a light layer of cream and light peach over everything but the hair.  I left the highlights in the hair untouched and added a light layer of jasmine to the rest of the hair.



This is the completed portrait after applying many layers of color. I sprayed the finished painting with Lascaux fixative to preserve the colors.

Male Cardinal 5X7 Colored Pencils

This is the step-by-step colored pencil drawing of a male cardinal.  It is a 5X7 on Strathmore drawing paper.  I used Derwent colored pencils for this picture.  It's my first time using the Derwent.  I usually draw with Prismacolors but I received a set of Derwent's as a gift.  They took a little getting used to but I really like the way they blend. 

Anyway, here's the process I used for the cardinal:

As always, I began with a graphite sketch of the cardinal.

Using NeocolorII, I covered the background with a thin layer of light lemon yellow and vermillion.  The colors were blended with a small amount of water.

I started working on the eye and beak first using indigo, dark green, and orange.  I also began layering the cardinal's head with dark green for the darkest areas, scarlet red, and red.  I also used yellow ochre in some areas.

In this step, I started layering the body of the cardinal using the same colors that I used for the head.

Continuing with the layers, all the colors were darkened.  I also added lichen gray for the tree, along with cloud blue.  I also used cloud blue for the gray areas of the the feathers.

Here is the finished cardinal.  I added more neocolor to the background and enhanced it with red and ochre colored pencils to make the colors richer.  I also used black for more contrast in the feathers and added detail to the tree.  An exacto knife was used to scratch out some of the lighter highlights on the feathers.  After scratching out the highlighted areas, I drew over them with cloud blue and white.


This drawing was done for my enjoyment.  It's not a commission piece.  I think I'll hang it in my kitchen after I draw a female cardinal to match.

 The female cardinal is finished.  I drew this using the same method as with the male cardinal.

Border Collie- "Innocent Eyes"

This is the step-by-step process I used to create "Innocent Eyes", an 8X10 commission for a Border Collie.

Step 1:  I sketched in all the basic shapes for the painting.

Step 2:  Began working the eyes with Prismacolor pencils.  I like to get the eyes finished first, then the rest of the drawing seems to fall into place.

Step 3:  Next, I started working down the muzzle toward the nose.

Step 4:  Started adding some detail to the forehead and the top of the collie's head.

Step 5:  More detail and colors added.  The border collie is really taking shape now.

Step 6:  Continuing to fill in details of lights and darks.

Step 7:  This is the final portrait of the border collie.  I continued to work in layers until I was satisfied with the fur and saturation.  He is a beautiful dog and the owner was very pleased with the final portrait.