Black on White

I finished the rhinoceros yesterday, and I have to say, it's not bad, but I'm not entirely happy with it. I gives me the same feelings as Polarity. I'm trying to move beyond copying my photographs and using a collection of reference photos, but it just didn't work this time. I'd like to try another rhino in the future, though. And I still have prints available.

So this guy is a black rhino. They have the pointy upper lip, whereas the white rhinos have a square lip. This drawing is completely charcoal, with 6B used for almost all of it except 2B for the hairs on the ear. To get the texture of the skin, I covered with the 6B, blended with the side of a large stump, and then smeared it with a very dirty kneaded eraser. I'd like to write up a drawing tip with that technique sometime.

With that, on to the cougar...