Cat Portrait Commission - Pen and Ink

Ahhhh...how I love pen and ink! It has been some time since I have done a pet portrait, but I recently had a commission for a beautiful, Siamese cat. 

I worked from photos like I normally do, but the cat itself was difficult to photograph because of the dark markings on the face and there was some glare on the photos. It was a bit challenging to render, but even so, I think it turned out very well.

The final drawing was approximately 10" wide by 8" high and was done with my Rapidograph 3x0 (.25) pen on smooth Bristol paper. 

The fine pen was terrific for the face, but I started to question my sanity when I began to fill in the fur on the back half of the cat, most of which was dark brown to black. It went faster than I anticipated, though, and I think the fine pen lines worked really well to captured the subtle fur patterns, rather than just filling it in as a solid black.

This is an early photo of the pencil work as I blocked in the fur markings, etc. I always make sure my pencil areas are marked in before beginning any ink. If it doesn't look right in pencil, it won't look right in ink.

I did NOT fill in the fur on the back entirely with pencil (except for the tail), but rather just marked where there were changes in the direction of the fur as a sort of map to doing the pen work.

 

The final, finished drawing.

Once I finished with the pen work, I let it dry thoroughly overnight and then took my kneaded eraser to the whole thing to remove any stray pencil marks. I think the final turned out well and hope that the owner enjoys both the cat and the drawing for many years.

House Portrait in progress!

I am making good progress on my current project - an 10 x 8 inch pen and ink house portrait. 

This property has quite a few trees and foliage around the house itself. One of the trees is situated right in front of the front door. I always try to make sure at least part of the door is visible, so I have been working with the owner to determine how big to make the tree.

Here is a progression that you might be interested in seeing - from initial pencil drafts through several revisions of the front tree:

  Rough pencil draft placing house features, trees, etc.

 Additional details on the house and landscaping.

I sent this draft to the owner to see if the scaling-down of the front tree was acceptable.

 The owner wanted to expand the tree a bit more to reach up to the upper window, so this is the adjustment I made.

The owner approved the height of the tree, but I did some additional tweaking on the sides to fill it out a bit more.

I actually did some more revisions on the brick work as I thought it looked too heavy and uneven here. Stay tuned for the next update to see the finalized pencil draft and beginning pen work!

House Portrait - in progress (final pencil draft)

I think I have finalized the pencil draft of this house portrait. I added the landscaping in the front and actually had to tweak the perspective a bit as the line from the back of the house to the front flower bed was a bit off as I worked. I also finished penciling in the siding - it looks a little rough here, but when I do the final inking I will be using a straightedge for some of it to make sure it stays on track. I did some additional adjustments with the front steps, sidewalk, and also added some foliage to the side beds, working closely with the client.

I should be ready to start inking now. Stay tuned for the final artwork!

House Portrait - in progress (pencil draft)

I have been working on an 8 x 10 house portrait this week. I thought it would be interesting to post some in-progress scans so you can see how the process works. I always try to get as much detail down in pencil before I do any inking. It's much easier to correct pencil, of course, and so the longest part of the process is getting the pencil just right.

What you see above is the first pencil draft I scanned. Here I am still working on the siding and adding details in the landscaping as well as some details on the home. It is starting to come together nicely, but still needs to be finalized. 

Stop back to see an update on the pencil scan as I finalize it. Then onto the inking!

Pet portrait - two cats

I'm currently working on a pet portrait of two cats. I've only come as far as a preliminary sketch of each individual cat. I eventually will combine them into one composite illustration that I hope to render in colored pencil. These cats have lovely orange and white markings and I think they would be best represented in colored pencil.

House portrait - final pencil draft

I am finishing up with the pencil draft on my current house portrait. As you can see, many additional details as well as shading suggestions are included. I'll begin inking soon.

House portrait in progress - early pencil draft

This is a house portrait that I am working on. This is a very early pencil draft. I still have much work to do on it before I go near it with ink, but it is starting to shape up nicely. It's a bit hard to see, but you can get an idea of the perspective and layout. Stay tuned for more progress!

Still working on graphite - long-haired dog portrait

Another phase of the graphite drawing. This is definitely taking longer than usual, but I think some of the shaping is coming together. I will continue to work on this and then begin an ink version to see if that will translate. Hoping to use this as sort of a map to the pen work.

Continued graphite drawing - long-haired dog

I decided to proceed with graphite in order to really get a handle on the fur, shading, etc. Once this is done, then I will have a clear idea of the pen strokes to use with pen and ink to do that version. I often find with my house portraits that I really have to have a solid pencil sketch, if not a more detailed pencil rendering, before I proceed with pen and ink. It helps to cut down on errors when I am inking. Certainly, with the longer fur here I want to make sure I have the shading and form mapped out before I go near any ink!

I think the shape of the face and the fluff of the fur is coming together nicely. As you can tell, I'm working very lightly with the graphite. Once I get the shaping and form in there more clearly, then I will continue to darken where needed and it will begin to pop more.

Graphite or pen and ink? New dog portrait

I'm working on a new dog portrait. This one is of a beautiful, fluffy dog with long, white hair. I've done a rough sketch in graphite, but am unsure if the final will be in graphite or pen and ink. I am planning to do some work in both mediums to see what looks best. Because the dog is all white, I don't want to overwork it, either way. So, this will be an interesting challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

Another pencil draft of dog

Here is another draft of the dog in pencil. I made some additional tweaks on his eyes, the fur around his nose, and the nose itself. I've started the pen work on 140 lb hot press watercolor paper, which takes ink very well. I usually use bristol board, but did not have any on hand. I'll be posting stages of the pen work as it progresses.

Draft pet portrait of a dog

I'm currently working on a pet portrait of this lovely little dog. He has very expressive eyebrows and ears, I think!

As I look at this pencil draft - the final will be in pen and ink - I notice that I need to even out his nose and also make sure his eyes are the correct size. If you don't get the eyes just right, it doesn't matter how well-rendered the fur is, etc., it just won't work.

Stay tuned for further drafts and/or the final result in ink!