Finished Drawing of a Boxer

I am so happy to say that the Boxer is finished!   Believe it or not this is a little girl, too.  The photo was generously made available at a picture library, and in the file it stated that this cutie's name is Lucy.  It must be a lucky name for me! :)  The background is blurred out grass.  In retrospect, it would have been easier to do a faint cloudy background to this one and probably would have been just as effective.  Of course, I planned to keep with the photo.  After completing the background, the pattern and depth of graphite seemed to be overpowering.  My husband agreed.  So... the background got some rework :( and a considerable amount of lightening to it.  Now, both of us are happy with the result.  A lot of time could have been saved by opting out of the reference background, but of course as most of you know,  my preference has always been for busier ones. :)  (Of course during the rework, I might have given a different answer!)

I did go back and work some 9b into the dog's face and ears.  It helped to define the whiskers as they went in.  Quite a few of the hairs around the lower jaw were not defined.  Sometimes it is tempting to get carried away and put them in there, but then it throws off the natural appearance and makes the subject come across flat.  I remind myself of that all the time, since whiskers are my favorite part of animal drawings!

  

So what is next for the drawing board?  I have a lovely shot of my son with a little tree frog sitting on his hand that I would really like to do, but my husband is pushing for another dog.  His choice is a darling picture of a little Yorkshire Terrier.  I might do a line drawing of each and decide then, since I'm sure both will be renderings for this year. ;)    

Drawing of a Boxer 6

Fifteen inches of snow later... and here is where I am at with my Boxer. (Not that I am implying that it takes a blizzard shutting down half of Illinois to make me work at my art.  But it does take away a lot of other options!)  The only area left on the dog is a smidge of his back and some light fur in front.  The background of the photo reference is very blurred and hazy, so it will not add much except a few faint references to shadows.  I am actually anxious to see how the 'lack' of background will affect this piece.  So many of my backgrounds are busy, and this will make for a nice change of pace.  I would like to see this one completed and a sketch in the works for the next drawing before the weekend is over, but it does no good to hurry a drawing.  The weather man is calling for sub zero wind chills here, so that will definitely limit any other activities.  (I avoid going out in the cold if at all possible!)  At any rate, the next post will be the completed work.  Yay! :)

Drawing of a Boxer 5

I am currently working on the darker side of his face. It seems to be going a little faster. The lighter hairs will wait until the end of the drawing as usual. I hope to get the ear and neck in tonight. The weather forecast for tomorrow is a possible 15 inches of snow, so odds are in my favor for some drawing board time (between trips out to shovel). :) Let's just hope that the electricity stays on!!

Drawing of a Boxer 4

Made a little progress this last week. His chin will get more defined when the light hairs are added. I shaded in the white of the muzzle. His forehead had very faint shadows. When I put in the black along the side of the face, the white area on the muzzle may get some darker shading. It is easier to gauge the depth of shadows in the lighter areas when I have a strong contrast present. Hopefully, I will be able to post some more progress in the next couple of days. I would like to finish this one up by the end of the month to keep on schedule... or at least be close! :)

Drawing of a Boxer 3

Well, I can breath a little easier (and now so can he!). The nose area had a lot of tiny details that translated to a lot of lightening and darkening (over and over again). It is such a small area with a huge impact on the overall balance. After the nose area was complete, it made it easier to map in the muzzle. The more I work on this guy...the more I am liking this composition. :)

Drawing of a Boxer 2

This is how he sits on the drawing board this morning. His coloring does not have a whole lot of contrast in the ear and forehead area, but I think it holds its own with the black. The area around the eye and to the side of his face was deepened in the shadows. I will go back and put in the fine hair details after the whole face is finished. The mid section of the face is white, so that should add some nice contrast to the piece. I am looking forward to getting some work done on this guy later today. Hopefully I didn't jinx myself with that statement! ;)

Drawing of a Boxer Cont.

It is hard to believe my last post that involved blending a drawing was on the 22nd of November. But I can tell you this for sure, it felt like more than a month break as I sat in front of the drawing board. This moment was when I chose my word-of -the-year (Focus!). The difficulties were comical and horrific at the same time, but I was determined not to scrap this guy. My first hurdle was the fact that this reference was not my first choice to draw, or as I call it "The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side" effect. (Just another way to feel sorry for myself by making a lame excuse for the slow start!) My second hurdle... I honestly was getting messed up in my process of starting a drawing and even found working my photo printer to be a challenge. (How pathetic is that?? And the answer is "No... I do not drink or take mind altering medication!") My third hurdle... after that does there really need to be a third?? ;)

Well, it was then that I picked "focus" for my inspirational word and told myself to pull it together. Then that lovely feeling came into the room, and I felt a familiar sense of organization come over me. My method of madness began to take hold, and the rest of the world and the static that comes with it faded away. The shadows of my reference photo began to make sense (I actually reworked the area of black twice before my old self clicked in- just in time to do the eye which is always a fun area to play with). It was at that moment that I could relax and begin to piece together my subject. I will do my best to stay focused and never let such a gap go between drawings!

This puppy is such a straight on view and not a whole lot of value (color) change on the sides of his face. It is interesting rendering such a straight on shot. I'm feeling a little bit out of my element but that is okay. It is nice to 'mix it up' once in awhile. As always, I am working with a 2b mechanical and a 9b wood pencil. I have been giving some thought to breaking into some charcoal to make the black value more intense. It will definitely be a media that I'll be spending some time with in the future...

Drawing of a Boxer

Well, Christmas is right around the corner. The 'to do' list is almost completely checked off, so I thought I'd take some time to myself and get my next drawing started. Here is the line drawing of a boxer pup that will be approximately 9 1/2 x 8 inches when finished. The original color pic is roughly a 5 x 6. I didn't like the size it would be if I enlarged the line drawing on my 1 inch grid. So, I created a new 3/4 inch grid, mounted the transfer paper, and went to work on the line drawing. Working on line drawings is one of my favorite parts of creating art. It helps to build up my hand/eye coordination. But I must confess, I had a couple of misplaced lines. ( I won't tell you where his right eye was located for a little while!) That my friends is the main reason that my sketches are done on transfer paper. It is sooo forgiving! Overall, the sketch went pretty fast, even though there were a half a dozen interruptions. I must say... it feels good to be back at the drawing board! :)