My friends, best Friend,... (progression)

My wife and I have a dear friend who is moving into her new house and we would very much like for this to be her home. A house warming present is traditional here, so we thought what better than something that would evoke warm emotions.

This is her best friend Josie,.. Josie is still very much amongst us but as all things living, she is aging and just turned 11 (I am hoping Josie likes her new home as well).  Josie still has a lot of spirit and will be with us a long time.

Here is the progression of this latest project.  Sketching was easy but the original photography was more cropped and only part of a paw and one ear was visible.  I added some more blanket, completed the left paw and added the left ear, (Josie's left, not our left).

... this little fold was
oddly inspirational to
complete this project.

Josie is black and brown furred, and the black fur is complimented by dark nails, a dark nose and dark brown eyes.





I started with the idea and attitude that to succeed in making this a piece to evoke any emotions, was a two parter.   The face was the first key. I had to capture the eyes, nose and chin whiskers. When you have a loving pet/friend like Josie you are often physically close to them and consciously or unconsciously you notice all these minute details. I knew that if I could capture those details,.. I was on the right track.

1                                                                                      2

The technique was new to me but not difficult,... I simply drew and blended, drew and blended with darker and darker (harder) mediums.


3                                                                                      4

 




You might think I should have stopped and kept her lighter so you could see the direction of the fur, but Josie's black is pitch black and if I kept it too light she simply looked old.


5                                                                                      6

At this point it was just perfecting the eyes. I felt I achieved a good representation of her right eye immediately but her left eye was more difficult since it was on the shadow side.  I think by darkening the outer part of the eye and lightening the other side of the jaw, made it come together nicely.



Finally the second key to success was the surroundings,..
I have not often bothered with surroundings. My projects typically are too close to have any or are simply floating.  However adding surroundings, allows for shadows (and reflections in some cases).  This in turn adds a level of realism which compliments any success I might of had with the main subject.

I started with the ear,...

and moved onto the blanket which was the second key. Getting the folds and pattern anywhere near a realistic look was instrumental to seeing Josie in this piece.

In the end, I believe I succeeded with Josie's eyes and nose, the paws and ears are acceptable but the bedding around her leaves to be desired (except for a few favorite folds).  All in all - I am pleased with the outcome and more importantly my friend is also. She was thankful and I still owe her tremendously for all she was done for us. 





This was a first for me,.. mostly charcoal with some graphite and the different techniques in blending them (individually and/or together).  It was drawn on an 11" x 14"  100lbs white smooth paper, using
General's Charcoal pencils, 557-HB, 2B and 4B, some delicate parts were done with various sized mechanical pencils and Dixon Ticonderoga Black #2 HB. As usual my erasers of choice are a Sanford Design kneaded eraser 1224 and Sanford Magic Rub vinyl eraser #1960 as well as various blending tools (stumbs, tortillons, spongits and cloths).


..... sB