Cat in the Grass

Last year, I drew one of my cats, Quark. I figured it was high time I drew the other one! (Of course, I now have two additional cats, but I will get to them in due time.) So here is my buddy Lepton, the only male of the four. We let the adults outside in the yard supervised occasionally. Here, Lepton was probably watching a grasshopper. Like the drawing of Quark, this was a relatively quick one. And, like Quark, prints are available, but I'm keeping the original!

I do take commissions for pet portraits. If you are interested in one before the holidays, please contact me no later than November 30.

Bear Kiss

Here they are, mother and baby. Since the last post, I finished the fur, added detail to the mountains, and darkened the water. I am so excited with how this drawing came out that I am going to do a series of mother/baby drawings.

Prints and the original are available.

WIP - Polar Bears Update

I am getting more excited about this piece the more I work on it. The polar bears are really starting to pop! And the baby, which I have no direct photo reference for, is coming along rather well, I think. I am working in two layers for the faces: charcoal applied with the stump for the shadows; and the 2B pencil for detail work. I plan to fade out the pencil so the bodies will be done only with the stump.

Charcoal Class a Success

Saturday I taught my first art class, an introduction to the tools and techniques of charcoal. I passed out all the tools I use routinely and the different papers I have tried. I did several demos and we spent the rest of the day experimenting and practicing drawing from several black and white photos I brought of various subjects. The class was well received, and I plan to teach another class in February on animal textures.

2010 Calendars

I now have two calendars available on RedBubble. The first is the same as last year's, just updated to 2010 and with a new title, and the second is a collection of work from this year. Take a look!

Pumpkin Time!

Time for carving fun! I tried a new technique with my pumpkin this year that allowed me to use essentially three values. The mid-tone is achieved by carving away only the top layer of the rind. This allows some light to pass through the flesh of the pumpkin. It is a bit like working on scratchboard, in that you start with the dark background and carve away to get lighter areas. I found I couldn't use just any kitchen knife for this, so I actually got out my miniature wood carving gouges! They were just the right size and worked perfectly.

Happy Halloween!

WIP - Polar Bears

If there's one thing I've learned about drawing white fur, it's that it is much easier to draw the background first, then erase where the fur goes (especially in the sky). This is how I am approaching this drawing. There is a second reason, and that is I like to do the part of the drawing I'm the least confident in first. I know I can draw the bears. I've never drawn snow-capped mountains or ice floes before. So if I do them first, and something goes wrong, there's less time wasted in starting over (and there's nothing wrong with starting over, because that means you've learned something).

So here she stands, nothing more than a nose and eye in a silhouette in front of blocked-in mountains and icy water. Her baby will be in the foreground, not visible at this time. I am excited about this one!