"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.

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow

This is my latest colored pencil drawing, a commission for a birthday present.

I used Prismacolors for the whole picture.  The background was done with true blue, dark green, and yellow ochre that I made into a powder with sandpaper.  I used a circular motion with a cotton cosmetic pad to spread the colored pencil powder.

I burnished the tree swallow and tree limb with a colored pencil blender but left the background unburnished.

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.

Four Pet Portrait Gifts

I gave all four of these pet portraits away as gifts to friends and relatives.  All are 8"X10" Colored Pencil Portraits using Prismacolor Colored Pencils.  Unfortunately, I didn't keep pictures of the works in progress but thought I'd post the finished paintings. 

Sadly, Harrison passed away shortly after this painting was completed. 

Dakota, the Great Dane puppy is now 6 months old and over 70 lbs!

                              Harrison

             

Wolfy the Dachsund

 

            

Dakota the Great Dane Puppy

Jo Jo the Cat

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.