Molly: kitten portrait

A slightly looser portrait, this one proved challenging because of the vagueness of the source photo. Still, it was definitely workable, the lack of sharpness and looser pencil strokes give it softness.

Original photo:




Finished drawing:




5" x 7" image on 7.5" x 11" Stonehenge warm white paper.

Dog Portrait #1: Shiloh

Since this drawing has been completed, delivered, and viewed by its recipients, I can now go ahead and post this piece!

This is the original photo:



And this is my drawing:



This piece was done on 11" x 15" Stonehenge warm white rag paper, with a variety of pencils (no charcoal).

I used to periodically do animal and people portraits (and on one occasion an Italian kit car) on a semi-regular basis, but it had been a while. However, I'm considering taking on more of these projects in the near future once I've rebuilt my portfolio, so if anyone is looking to have something done, drop me a line and we can discuss it.

On that note...

This photo was a very challenging one to work from. Although I can make do to a certain extent with what I'm given, the ideal photo is:

-digital
-a good resolution (nice and big!)
-sharply in focus
-taken outdoors, in natural lighting, at a flattering angle
-no obstructions
-no flash!!

No matter how much I try to compensate for it, there is always a lot of flattening of the image which occurs with flash photography. However, even though this photo broke most of the rules, I did my best to compensate in the drawing and I'm pretty happy with the end result.