Meerkats finished (I think)

Meerkats is now completed, well I think it is I may add another one on the left hand side, but I will leave it for a day or so to decide, this has been great fun to draw, and I think I can say I now know how to draw a Meerkat... They all seem to have there own Character which is what I was aiming for when I started out. Drawn on A2 Mellotex paper, using just a 2H HB and 2B pencil, Blue tac and putty Eraser, the drawing itself measures approx 18 x 9 inches, no title at the moment, but I'm sure Ill come up with one...

Go Compare (sorry couldn't help myself)

Only two to go, I think I'm getting the hang of these now.......

5 down 3or 4 to go

Due to the bad weather and being unable to work I have managed to complete the 5th Meerkat this morning, still not sure how many more will be added I'll just stop when it all comes together.. the tallest Meerkat stands approx 9inches tall

Another one bites the dust

Yet another Meerkat added to the family line up, maybe 3 or 4 more to go. they seem to be getting easier the more I draw them, wish it was like that every time I picked up a pencil....

Three down not sure how many more to go...

First three Meerkats completed except for the usual tweaking, not sure how many more I'm going to add, but will stop when it looks balanced...

Pencil and Eraser

As you can see the pencils have been out and another Meerkat is taking shape, what you can also see is that the Eraser has been hard at work removing the fur from the first Meerkat, I wasn't happy with the way the fur looked, just not realistic enough for me, so instead of scrapping the drawing and starting again I have Erased what I didn't like and started again, this time I'm a lot happier with the effect, hope you agree....

Meerkats

Its some time since I posted any work, mainly due to the fact that I've found it hard to get motivated... anyway here is the first part of a group of Meerkats I'm attempting to draw, not sure how long this will take to complete but I'm hoping to have it finished before the London Olympics....lol

Lions Again!

I have revisited and redrawn the pair of Lions I used in my last commission piece which was a present for my brother in laws 50th birthday. This time I have drawn them larger and without any background etc, I feel they are strong enough to stand on there own, these will be mounted and framed and shown at the Eastwood Library for the whole of January 2011, with approx 12 more of my drawings. as you can see i've included a close up shot as Im always asked to show more detail, the finished drawing size is approx 20 x 8 inches, drawing time approx 20 hours, and drawn on Mellotex as always...

Chester WIP

Just a little up date to show you where I'm at, not getting a lot of spare time to work on Chester at the moment, but he'll get there in the end

From A Safe Distance

This latest drawing now titled ''From A Safe Distance'' is as good as completed, maybe a few tweaks here and there, but I don't want to over work it. size is 21 x 8 inches, drawn on Mellotex super white paper, around 30 hours drawing time taken to complete. all comments welcome...

New Work Update

As you can see more tone and form have been added to the far rock face, I'm hoping to have this completed by tomorrow, Thursday at the latest..

New Work Update

Haven't had as much time as I would have liked to work on this piece, otherwise I think it would have been completed by now. As you can see I have introduced the deer on the opposite cliff to the Lions, one title I am working with is ''A Safe Place'' but this is not set in stone! so any other suggestions would be welcome, best get back to that cliff face and work in some detail......

Rock completed

The Rock is now almost completed, maybe a little tweaking here and there, when I look at it again tomorrow, so as that's the left hand side of the drawing finished I can move onto the trickier right hand side....

Lion's progress

As you can see work is progressing, slowly the rock is taking shape.

New Work

I felt like a change of scenery, so I have put the Robin work to one side and have started this Lion drawing, early days as you can see, so will post more as I move along...

Drawing with Blu Tac 1

I have had many comments on a drawing forum site that I post on, as to how I have achieved the background effect of the foliage in the shadow areas on the Robin drawing, so I thought I would attempt to show a blow by blow account of how this effect comes to life using Blu Tac and a pencil. I will show this from start to finish in a number of posting otherwise the pics appear very small, sorry for the quality of the photos but some were taken late at night and have a slight cast on them. I think I should mention that I picked up this technique from Mike Sibley, check his blog page out when you get the time, Ilook forward to your comments etc....

The first pic shows how I have drawn the outline if a number of leaves and branches, I have to say that non of this section was pre planned I just made it up as I went along...

The second pic shows that I have now outlined around the outer edges of all the pre drawn leaves etc

Drawing with Blu Tac 2

Pic 3 show that all the far background has been darkened down with a number of layers of in this case a 7B pencil, once completed the fun begins...

Pic 4 shows how I shape the Blu Tac to a chisel point and in some cases I will roll into a point as sharp as a pencil for fine detail work and this also comes in useful for picking out highlights in eyes etc

Drawing with Blu Tac 3

Pic 5 I start to randomly remove the Graphite by pressing and dabbing the Blu Tac onto the dark area, at this stage I'm just trying to make marks that look in some way like leaves twigs and branches etc, I'm not to worried how accurate they are.

Pic 6 I start to add more points of interest little leaves etc, by rolling the Blu Tac into a point.

All of this takes time as every time you press the Blu Tac onto the paper the edge goes flat and is also covered with graphite, so a new edge has to be made after every mark is made ( hey no one said it was easy)

Drawing with Blu Tac 4

Pic 7, once I have the basic shape of the leaf or stem etc, I start to form it into the correct shape using the 7b pencil.

Pic 8, Once I'm happy with the shape I start to fill in a little detail and the darken it down, as remember this is in the far background, and in most cases in the shade

Drawing with Blu Tac 5

Pic 9 shows how things have taken shape, its taken a few hours to get to this stage, many parts have been darkened then lighted again until I'm happy with the effect, the further back they are the more I darken them down, its surprising how far you can take this, as long as they are lighter than the 7b background they will stand out and give the effect I want.

Pic 10 Shows that more detail has been added to the background leaves etc and also detail to the foreground stems, leaves etc this is now starting to give the 3d effect I'm after

Drawing with Blu Tac 6

Pic 11, shows a close up of the background area, as you can see by drawing a hole in one of the leaves and showing the stem through it helps to give that feeling of depth.

Pic 12 How this small area fits into the overall drawing, I hope this as all been of some interest as you can see there is a long way to go...

Robin Update

Now that the Robin is as good as completed, I've started on the background, I'm basically making this up as I go along, all this foliage will wrap itself around the gate post that the Robin is stood on, each leaf seems to be taking forever to do, but I'm in no rush, I hope to include a few insects onto the Bindweed as they develop. I have included a close up pic of the leaves etc, all of the stalks etc in the dark background have been drawn on a blacked out area using BlueTac.

Robin Update

Just a quick update, I'm not getting much time at the moment to work on this piece,but as you can see the Robin is now near enough complete, so onto the fore and background, Ill keep updating as I move towards completion...

Robin

As you can see I have started work on my new little bird, which this time is one of my favourites The Robin, I love these as they can become very tame and they will after a while feed out of your hands. this drawing will be larger than the previous ones with a little more background detail, As you can see I've post a pic of the original photograph I took about a month ago, I'll post more as it develops....

Goldcrest

Just finished this little Goldcrest perched on a wire fence, size 6x5 inches and drawn on Mellotex, the photo seems to have come out all grainy for some reason, sorry about that!

Nuthatch

This is the latest addition to my British Bird drawings, a little Nuthatch, measuring approx 5x7 inches, and drawn in Mellotex paper, hope you like him?

Greater Spotted Woodpecker

The latest addition to my British Bird drawings, this Woodpecker is starting to build a new home in what looks like a telegraph pole.... size around 8 x 4 inches, drawn on Mellotex paper.

Swift on Barbed Wire

Another drawing in my new series at trying to capture the beauty of British birds, this time it's a Swift perched on barbed wire, measuring 8 x 5 inches and drawn on Mellotex paper, drawing time approx 7 hours

Wren Completed

Finished this off tonight, long time since I drew a bird, think I might stick with them for a while, size is 3.5 x 4.5 inches, drawn on Mellotex

Wren WIP

I seem to have gone from one extreme to the other, after the Elephant drawing at 20x16 inches I'm now working on a little wren at around 4x3 inches, compared to the Elephant (which took around 45 hours) progress on this seems to be at warp speed.... this is where I'm at after just a couple of hours, hope to have this finished within the next couple of days.

Old Wrinkly Finished, Framed and at the Exhibition...

After almost 50 hours, Old Wrinkly is finished, it has also been framed and delivered to the exhibition, which opens on the 19th of June at the Nottingham Society of Artist Gallery, on Friar Lane Near Nottingham Castle. the actual Drawing is 16.5 x 20.5 inches, drawn as always on Mellotex paper, tools used where 2h, HB 2b, and 6b pencils, blending tool, eraser, and putty rubber for the highlights. it seem strange not to see this on my drawing board waiting to be worked on, but it was good to see it completed, oh well onto the next piece ( and I guarantee its going to be smaller)!

Old Wrinkly almost there!

As you can see I'm getting close to completion, just the ear to do and checking on all of the tones and detail etc on the trunk, this has to be at the framers early on Tuesday morning....

Old Wrinkly update

Thought I had better post an update. after around another twelve hours this is where I'm at, need to have this finished by Monday as it has to be mounted and framed by Tuesday night, this is so I can be entered into the Nottingham Society of Artist show at the end of June, closing date is the 16th so better get a move on....

Old Wrinkly update

As you can see from the latest update pic I have re worked the trunk, this was because I didn't feel the first attempt showed enough depth to the skin, so it was all erased and I started again, each section is now taking me around two hours, so progress is slow, but I think it's worth the time and effort, let me know what you think....Im also widening the ear almost to the edge of the paper.

Old Wrinkly wip

As you can see this piece is slowly coming together, though there is still a few hours work left to do, it seems to be one wrinkle at a time.... this whole piece was inspired by the work of Martin Fitzpatrick and Gary Hodges check them out! I hope to post more by the weekend.

New Work Update

After 15 hours and lots of blending this is where I'm at with my new piece, still no title but a few ideas going around in my head. I may put this to one side over the bank holiday, I've been promising myself to have a go with the oil paints I bought recently, not sure what I'm going to do with them, maybe another Elephant....

New WIP

Due to my last commission order, I have only been able to grab a couple of hours here and there to work on this new piece,no title as yet, but this is where I'm at after approx 10 hours, can you guess what it is yet?

Update of French Bulldog

After speaking with the client, I have re-worked the neck area, making it narrower and emphasised the shortness of the neck hair and tried to show the dogs left shoulder more, just waiting to hear back from them....

Workshop Day result

I had a great day attending the Linda Waine painting workshop, not much to show, but thats always the case when your using a new medium, well it is for me. the paint used here was Linda Waine's pro colour, dont think this study will ever be completed but it gave me some idea on how to use this medium..