Total Art Soul - for artists

There are times as an artist when a drawing takes hold of you. There is something about it that it almost draws itself.

This is that drawing for me.

The subject is Kadi, a Sumatran Tiger Cub born at the wonderful South Lakes Wild Animal Park

There were challenges in drawing from this photograph as I could not get a clear shot for the bars but I did have a couple of other shots which helped me fill in the gaps.

The drawing is on cartridge paper, my favourite as it is smooth and easy to build layers on.  It holds its form and strength whatever I do to it.  I should really start top left and work my way down but the temptation to start on the eye was just too great.

The contrast of dark and light make a dramatic drawing but provide more challenges to stop the colours smudging into each other.

A coloured pencil drawing requires a lot of layers to ensure realism.  It is important to understand how pencils work together to create new colours or textures, one colour is never enough.  There are no flat colours in nature, her beauty is in the variety.

The complete drawing.  This used a mix of Derwent Watercolour Pencils and Caran d'Ache pencils.  I like the softness of Derwent and the hard crisp edges of Caran d'Ache.

I am happy with this drawing.  Here is the scan of this drawing.

I love tigers and I hope it shows in my drawing.

Comment (0)

Every artist strives for constant improvement.  Our aim is for each picture to be better than the one before, to learn something new from each project and to make people happy with the finished result.

Simple?

Not always.  Some projects are a dream, some are a battle but if we learn something from each one then nothing is wasted.

Some artists fill journals and sketchbooks with studies and sketches or mini paintings.  I just launch into a project and see what happens.  Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

My work has evolved so much since I started sharing it with everyone.   I used to work mainly in abstract - exploring texture and colours.  Then I booked a last minute exhibition with too little finished work to show so I set myself a challenge to produce 30 pieces of art in 30 days. ...I did it and.....sfomewhere in there I discovered that I loved drawing animals.

I have not stopped since.

Today I was going to take some drawings to be mounted and framed and came across some of my old drawings in my portfolio.  I realised how far I have come since those first images.

That was then

This is now

That was then

This is now

My work has become much finer and more refined in the past 3 years.  I have learned that practice leads to improvement, I have learned how to blend colours better and create more depth and texture in my drawings.  I have learned that simple things like good pencils and a decent sharpener make all the difference to any work.  I have learned what every one of my pencils do and how to make that work for me.  I have learned and improved but there is still plenty room for improvement.

The drawings take a lot longer to complete but I think that it is worth it.  I am glad I kept the old work, it is good to compare and see the progress and improvement I have made.  I would love to hear your comments or your experiences so please share :)

Comment (2)

I have not written a blog post for ages because I have been very lucky to be incredibly busy drawing. 
This drawing proved to be a real test as it included three beautiful boxers.

Look

As I am right handed, it is best to work from left to right to avoid smudging

Happy so far :)

Moving onto the second dog was nerve wracking enough

but a third meant that I had a lot to lose if it went wrong.

It didn't :D

The reaction from the owner was more than I could have hoped for and was a wonderful end to my first ever triple portrait.

Comment (0)