Dani's Exercise Drawing

Here is the beginning to my next portrait. It is of Dani (aka the hamster) getting his evening workout. My son had him running around in his little blue plastic ball. We took the cover off, he climbed up to look out and posed for this picture. His pose is very similar to the first portrait. I found this picture interesting due to the challenging position of the hand and the ball itself. The line drawing was a little bit of a challenge, but that is where the graph to me is invaluable. I have no doubt I could sketch this scene (with its fair share of erasing!), but the graph makes the job quicker and helps me to place all those tiny details. Also with regards to the fingers, it leaves no doubt when positioning the shadows.

I finally feel pretty confident at taking a pic and posting at this point, but I must admit this is my second attempt at a start on this portrait. I started on the inside of the ball on the first drawing. I laid the graphite heavy on the first layer ( a little too heavy!). After blending it in, I realized this level of darkness was not needed. (The intensity of the blue in the ball was throwing me off.) After erasing, I noticed that the graphite was deeply embedded. I tried to work over it but was not happy. So, into the trash went the first attempt. Humbling isn't it! This sent me frantically looking for a different composition all together. (I never said I could stand failure!!) I lined up a few new ones, but the thought of doing a new line drawing, and leaving this one not completed, was causing me to lose self confidence by the hour. So thankfully, I work on tracing paper for my layouts. I transferred my drawing AGAIN to Bristol. I picked another area of the ball to start and carefully began layering my graphite. I feel I'm on the right track or close to it. Graphite can be challenging with its shades of gray!!

I suppose, I should add this drawing is started with a 2b mechanical pencil. In the last drawing I used a 6b in some of the darker areas. This will probably hold true for this composition also. I am blending with various size stumps and highlighting with a click and kneaded eraser. The finished composition will be approximately 7 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches. Well, back to the drawing board...