I've Been Framed!

Inspiration:
The picture below is another of my friend's pups. I have used the gouache "ink" technique on dogs with black and white before, could I pull it off on a totally black dog?
I sent my friends the drawings of her dogs, Brae and Shasta (#30). She loved them so much, she had two of them framed as a gift for her husband.

I like how she included the original pictures, and notes I sent her about the drawings on the back of the frame. She plans to get the last picture framed at some point in the future. 

#31: Brae

Reference Photo

What I like about the drawing:
Not much! Yeah, it looks like a black dog, but I don't think I captured Brae's personality very well. I am fairly pleased with the white charcoal highlights, however. 

What I might do differently:
I made Brae a bit too fat! Oops, sorry about that, girl! My gouache was not thin enough. It isn't visible at first glance, but if you had the picture in front of you, and held it a bit sideways, you would see areas that were quite thick and a even a few bubbles. 

What I learned:
It would be helpful to test the gouache on a scrap before beginning to paint. In a previous gouache drawing I lost sight of the lines of the drawing. This time I made a copy of my sketch before I covered the original with gouache and I found that helpful to use as a reference.

#30: Shasta

Inspiration:
While taking the online Drawing Cats and Dogs class I practiced by sketching dogs that belong to my friends.  Shasta was especially intriguing with her short hair and her coloring. I created one drawing and shared it online. She went nuts over it, and asked if I could send it to her... she'd even pay! (I didn't charge her.) I decided it would be fun to surprise her and include another drawing... or two. 

#30: Shasta

9" x 9" pencil on vellum

What I like about the drawing:
I love the pup's expression. To me, she looks like she is inviting the viewer to come play with her.  I feel like I was able to show the dimensions of her face by using more strokes, creating a darker area. I am pleased with the background. I like the variation I achieved with smudged pencil.

What I might do differently:
I am not certain that her ears are accurate. Again (and again, and again...) I must move away at several stages of the drawing process to assess my work. I used very little shading by smudging the pencil. I think that might have helped differentiate areas of different color.

What I learned:
Val Webb (course instructor) says that the eyes are the soul of the picture, and I agree. Val puts them in, first thing. It certainly does make the drawing come to life, right away! I am not a patient artist. I don't like taking a lot of time with my work. I want to see it... NOW! Were I to take more time, step back more, and revisit the work another day I think my work would be more refined. I also find that view a picture of the art work helps me get that "view from a distance." I shall try looking at a picture of my work on my next piece.

#32: Echinacea - Botanical Drawing

Inspiration:

This was one of the projects for the Heirloom Garden online drawing class I have been taking. 

#32: Echinacea and Swallowtail

9" x 12" colored pencil on vellum

What I like about the drawing:

I like the shading on the petals of the flower, and on the 'cone'. The blush of orange on the butterfly is pleasing. I think the shading on the leaves where they fold is effective.

What I might do differently:
The body of the butterfly is a bit chunky and clunky. I failed to do the underdrawing in Dark Umber, as was suggested in the instructions. Burnishing it with cream helped a bit, but it all seemed to get too large. There isn't much sense of where the light is coming from. The shadows are all over the place. I need to be more purposeful about selecting a light source and sticking with it.

What I learned:
I loved how the v's and inverted v's created the bristly look of the cone.

#29: Pumpkins

Inspiration:
I am taking an Heirloom Garden online drawing class with Val Webb. She is teaching us different techniques for drawing with colored pencils.  This was one of the projects from the class.

#29

8" x 11" Colored Pencil on Vellum

What I like about the drawing:
The color variations are pleasing and help build dimension. The colors in the green pumpkin moved around a bit, instead of blending, but I like the end result.

What I might do differently: 
The middle pumpkin is a bit squared off. Although I like that the 'shoulder' looks like it has dimension, The bottom edge on the left isn't very good. The top pumpkin seems to be sitting on a slightly different plane. I probably should have reduced the size of the back side of the pumpkin to make it look like it was more upright. 

What I learned: 
I enjoyed blending the colored pencil and burnishing the final result. I like how the colors can be layered, and built upon, almost like using water colors. In a more recent class, Val cautioned us about burnishing dark green with a white pencil, as it turns it into a "strange bluish color". Aha! That is what happened to pumpkin #2! In this instance, I think it turned out to be a "happy accident"!

#28 Samson

Inspiration:

Samson is Faith's big 'brother'. I sent the picture of Faith with a card I made to my friend's husband, and I made a card for her with Samson. Samson seems to be quite a character,  based on blog posts she writes, and pictures she includes. 

#28: Samson

5" x 7" pencil on vellum

What I like about the drawing:
Samson's white, fluffy coat looks quite realistic. I think I was able to create some dimension. I like his soft eye. My finished drawing is pretty true to the original.

What I might do differently:
The background is hideous. I like the crosshatch, but a little goes a long way. I probably should have taken more time with the tufts of white hair, using a sharp pencil to create more texture.

What I learned:

I need to practice different options for creating a background, and figure out when to only partially highlight a picture.