Drawing of a Yorkie 5

 Here is a quick update.  I have blended out the hair and eye and have pulled some highlights.  The leg to the right will get some darkening, but I want to see the background around it first.  The fur on that leg is considerably lighter than the one to the left.  There are a lot of stray hairs to be put in, but they will not all make it into the drawing.  I think it would look very "fly away" .  The dark background has been started Ugh! and will need to be gone over several times.  Below the paws there will be some nice reflections from the lighting to break up the monotony of the black.  I would love to see this one finished by the end of the month.   I promised myself the next subject will not require any fur!  ;)

Drawing of a Yorkie 4

What a week!  I started back to one of my part time jobs after a winter hiatus and am trying to get use to a packed schedule.  The first week is always the toughest.  I am looking forward to settling into a more calmer second week and getting a more set schedule for all my artwork. ;) 

As you can see, the rest of this little dog is mapped in.  My main problem with this drawing is seeing my photo reference through my Mylar cover.  This image is so dark that working under my lamp at night (which is my favorite time to draw) is almost unbearable to my eyes.  Since she is all mapped in, with the exception of the reflections and slight hints of fur in the background, I will pull the Mylar and work straight from the image.  Yay! :)   

This is a little off the subject of dogs, but...  I have made reference on my other blog about the wonders of YouTube.  As my younger sister can attest to, I was not interested in that site in the least for years.  I thought it was simply a site mainly attributed to music.  Although I have found back some cool old music videos from the past! ;)   But it is also a wealth of informative videos that some wonderfully talented people share with the world.  I cannot remember what I was searching for, but I stumbled across a brilliant Russian artist by the name of Igor Kazarin.  He works with oil paint in the dry brush technique.  This interested me, since I love to create my acrylic work with a dry brush.  This gentleman is so extremely talented. Lucky for him that I cannot hop into my car and spend my weekends looking over his shoulder!  He has many spectacular works, but please click on the link here and check out his amazing painting of Johnny Depp.  The music is awesome, the time lapse video rocks, and the talent keeps me awe struck every time I watch it.  It also lists his other equally outstanding works which are in black and white and color.  Just click on them and sit back to enjoy the show.  He also has a website that you can visit here .  If I need inspiration or am not sure if I want to put some time in on my own work, I take the 5 minutes to watch one of his videos and my world is full of the desire to perfect my own skills.  I cannot say enough how grateful that I am for him sharing of his talents.   If any of my followers have a favorite artist on YouTube, let me know.  I would love to find more talented artists to view.  My search on YouTube has only just begun! :)

Drawing of a Yorkie 3

The darks are going to have to get a whole lot darker, but here is where this little girl is at tonight.  My 9b pencil is starting to get some use.  I broke down and put in a few of the stray hairs to the top left.  I finally have a glimpse of what the finished piece will look like.  That is always a good shot in the arm for that last push in a drawing.  Plus, I love to create eyes, and it will be nice to see her's complete. :)  

Drawing of a Yorkie 2

This little guy is extremely difficult to photograph.  Aaaargh!   I finally just decided to not try and get a close up.  As you can see, I did not put in the background yet and am going to try and push through the majority of the dog first.  The hair from the earlier post is all complete, and the face is now starting to be mapped in.  The light source hits her forehead and  the unfinished side of the face and will make for some nice highlights.  I love doing highlights and am glad that most of the dark areas are finished.  The bottom hair of the muzzle looks a little scary right now, but in the finished work, they will be barely noticeable in the dark shadows.

The background will be what pulls this piece together in the end.  There are quite a few areas of hair on the outskirts of the coat that will be like the muzzle and be very slight in appearance.  I am worried that the 9b Prismacolor graphite will not achieve a smooth flat dark background  in such a large area.  So, I did order some Derwent Onyx Dark pencils from Dick Blick that I might try out on this piece, if I feel the 9b falls short.  * Rant Alert! :) *  Well... actually, Blick had to special order them, since they do not carry them, and I cannot find a dealer around here in the U.S..  They are one company that I cannot say enough good things about.   If you've never been to their site, I highly recommend you check them out at http://www.dickblick.com/ .  It doesn't happen often, but if they do not have an item that you want in their catalog, they will do their best to try and locate it for you.  They are just outstanding from the initial order all the way through to delivery, and the best at answering annoying questions from confused artists! ;)