Dragonfly (from wip to Done)

Last weekend my dear wife suggested I try to draw a dragonfly for a friend of hers. I was instantaneously intrigued. The insect eyes, the translucent wings, the bulbous body, the vibrant colors,.. oops, ok, no color,.. but maybe I could relate color with shades of graphite gray.

Well, (as excited as I was) I drew it in almost one sitting. Followed by a week of updating and tweaking it for myself. I received some amazing advice/recommendations from fellow pencil brethren and sisters from Artpapa and once applied, they were well worth the effort (at least I believe so).

Here is the beginning (7am),..


... middle (11am),..


... and end (4pm),...


... and finally a week later the completed work.


Now the technical talk:
The dimensions of the final project are 12"x9" on 65lb acid free paper. It was suggested I try a less coarse/rough bound paper for highly detailed projects as this one (especially when it is a potential gift), a smoother paper might have been easier to work said details in with as well (mental check on that one and thank you Imweil). Tools used were an HB, 2B, 6B, kneaded and stick eraser as well as a small and medium tortillon.

I am still not entirely pleased with it (I never am), but I get the effect of realism I was trying for and hope it is pleasing to the eye. Maybe once framed it will seem better, but for now I think I will let it be and move on.