Colored Pencil Pet Portait of Ziggy

 This is an 8x10 colored pencil commissioned pet portrait of a long haired Dachshund, Ziggy, I created for his parents for the holidays.

This first portrait is of Ziggy. I'm working on a paper called Ingres, I believe it's made by Canson. I really like the neutral tones and texture of the paper for the pet portraits. You can see the texture on these closeups. I always begin with the eyes, nose and the head. The features are the most important to be able to draw correctly and get the pet's personality.

I continue on with the fur, working small areas at a time almost to completion. I'm working downward and also putting a piece of clean paper under my hand so I don't smudge colors. Ziggy has a lot of color and texture to his strands of fur, I had to take breaks after drawing for a few hours, my eyes were crossing! 

Pet Portrait of a Little Yorkie

I’ve been working on this pet portrait of this little Yorkshire Terrier, Barrington. I am using primarily Prismacolor colored pencils and working on Canson Mi-Teintes paper, the color is called Hemp. I use the Mi-Teintes paper on the smoother side, not the textured side which works better when using pastels. 

I always start with the eyes because they’re the most important feature then work to the nose and mouth. Once I have the sparkle in the eyes and the facial features correct, I can start working the rest of the head and body.

Working on the body and all the little strands of fur. I start by adding my white highlights first so I don’t cover over them and then go to the darkest color and place it in the darkest areas of fur. Putting in those values helps me to define the lightest areas and darkest areas of his fur. From there I worked on the gray tones then added the tans and brown. I work one section at a time and then move onto the next section of the fur. For instance, one ear or one leg at a time. 

Barrington’s favorite spot is to sit in the laundry basket so that is how his owners wanted me to draw him. I’m working on the background, adding in the different bits of laundry but have to be careful that all the patterns and textures will detract from the dog. When I finish the background I will go back and make adjustments to the fur, especially around the edges. I may need to intensify some colors to bring him forward, and gray some background colors to make background elements sit back.

These are my color notes on the back of the paper. Colors always look different on a colored background than they do on a white background. It helps me to label the ones I plan to use on the fur, some of the browns and tans are so close in value and color that it’s hard to determine which is which just by picking up the pencil.

 

Colored Pencil Dog Portrait Commission

This is a recent 8x8" dog portrait I created in colored pencil for a client to give as a gift. The dog's owner lost this attractive guy earlier in the year and misses him terribly. I worked on Canson Ingres gray paper that I would later to mount to an 8x8" DaVinci Medium Textured Canvas Panel from Jerry's Artarama. You can see the progress in the photos above. I used Prismacolor, Caran d'Ache Luminance and Derwent Drawing brands of colored pencils to create the portrait. I also burnish the colored pencil layers with a stiff brush to smooth out the pencil and alleviate the texture of the paper showing through.

I recently purchased a set of 24 Derwent Drawing colored pencils and have been liking their soft buttery feel as well as the range of colors, many are earthy natural colors perfect for creating pet portraits. These pencils also claim to be extremely lightfast.I try to choose the most lightfast pencils for my works so they won't fade through the years.

After mounting and trimming the edges of the paper to the canvas panel, I spray varnish the piece and edges with Krylon UV Resistant Clear to seal the colored pencil and then 3 coats of Krylon Kamar Varnish allowing each layer to dry in between.

Pet Portrait of Nikki

 I was asked to create this pet portrait as an anniversary gift for the owners of this beautiful Golden Retriever Nikki. My customer asked for a small piece that could be hung or displayed on a stand. We decided on an 8x8"image in colored pencil that would be mounted on Ampersand Clayboard 3/4" cradled panel to be unframed and varnished.

I chose to work on Fabriano Tiziano paper, the color is Felt Gray. This is one of my favorite papers for pet portraits. I like the textured and flecked background so I will let the paper show through as the background behind Nikki.

My first step is to layout the drawing and put in the outlines in graphite pencil. I don't have to add a lot of detail to my initial line drawing but I want to be sure I have important features such as the eyes, nose and mouth in the proper positions. Using a sgraffito tool (has a blunt pointy end that will impress lines into the paper) I have impressed lines into the paper where the whiskers and some of the hairs will be. That way I can add color over the area and the whiskers will remain the color of the paper.

Using Prismacolor, Derwent Drawing and Luminance colored pencils I add white, cream, warm yellows, red browns, browns and warm grays to the drawing building and layering colors on the paper. Some of the areas have been burnished with a bristle brush; particularly the eyes, nose and tongue. My customer asked me to leave the drawing somewhat "sketchy" and simple and I did that by letting the drawing softly flow to the edges.

I did receive feedback from the owners and they love the piece. It's small enough to fit in a small space on the wall and enjoyed every day!

Colored Pencil Portrait of Six Goats

I was asked by a customer to draw a 'goat' portrait of these six goats for their owner's upcoming birthday. The drawing is going to be a surprise! I was really excited about the idea so the customer and I jumped into her car and drove over to the see the goats. We went into the barn area and I was able to take multiple reference photos of the goats to use when creating the drawing. The goats were so curious! You can see the looks on their faces.

The drawing is approximately 8x16" and is drawn with Caran d'Ache Pablo and Prismacolor brands of colored pencil on Oyster colored Canson Mi Teintes paper.

New Year New Works

I'll begin by posting two of the colored pencil pet portraits I worked on for clients during the holiday season. The top portrait is 8x8" worked with Prismacolor and Faber Castell Polychromos on gray Fabriano paper. The Golden Retriever is 8x10" worked on UArt 800 grit sanded paper also with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils.

Both clients were very pleased and I was too. These were two beautiful dogs to draw and I enjoyed it Now onto my own new work for the new year!

Colorful Commission

This was a fun commission, done in oil paint for a client. She had a similar reference painting and wanted the woman's face changed to look more like herself plus she wanted her cat Massimo in the painting with her. The style of painting is relatively flat and very colorful so it was fun for me to create, I especially liked working on Massimo - probably because it's another form of a pet portrait. 

Lucky in His Little Jacket

This is my latest 8x10" colored pencil portrait of Lucky for a customer. It is created on Ampersand Pastelbord and varnished.

Recent Colored Pencil Pet Portraits

 This is a colored pencil commission I did for a customer who gave it as a gift. Size is 8x10" on Stonehenge Paper.

 Here is a colored pencil portrait of Spiff which is also 8x10". Above is the portrait and below is the reference photo I worked from. I cleaned him up and put him on a dark red/brown background. The surface is Ampersand Pastelbord. I had fun with all the different white variations in Spiff's fur.

This is Rosie a Cavapoo breed of dog. I loved how her fur was so curly, colorful and fun to draw. This portrait is also in colored pencil and worked on 8x10" Ampersand Pastelbord.

I varnishe and frame all of these 8x10" portraits in this brown floater frame, here is the example of Rosie framed.

My Latest Pet Portrait

This is Brina, 8x10" in colored pencil on gray Fabriano paper. I worked Brina in Prismacolor, Lyra Rembrandt, Caran d'Arche Luminance and Derwent Artists colored pencils. The reason for all the different brands is because I like the different brown tones that I can't find in just one brand. I also like the variety of softness and hardness of the leads and just the feel of different pencils.

The piece is mounted on white gatorboard with double tack mounting film. I sprayed one good coat of Krylon UV Resistant Clear, then two coates of Krylon Kamar Varnish and about four coats of Golden Polymer Varnish with UVLS applied with a brush. I framed the piece without glass in this nice soft silver frame.

Brina is my brother's family dog who (unfortunately) recently passed away. This portrait was a Christmas gift for the family, a nice remembrance of the family pet.

New Pet Portraits

 Here are two colored pencil pet portraits I have recently completed, both are with a different technique. The top is of my friend's two cats Marco Polo and Bernini. I worked this on a textured gray Fabriano paper and I can't recall the name of it. I like the texture for the fur and background although my camera picked up more texture and the paper showing through than is actually in the portrait. This piece is approximately 8x10" and framed under glass.

This colored pencil portrait of Tuco was worked on 8x10" Ampersand Pastelbord, the color is Sand. This portrait has less texture, I smoothed out the bottom layers of colored pencil and the background with a soft brush and solvent. Tuco's finished portrait was varnished and framed in a brown floater frame (below).

One more Pet Portrait

This is my latest pet portrait of Logan. It's 8x8" on Bisque Canson Mi Teintes paper. The tone of the paper compliments the fur in the dog. I used both Prismacolor and Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils to work on the portrait. Logan in progress and my reference photos are beneath the finished drawing. 

Pet Portrait Commissions

I am posting my three latest pet portrait commissions and the photos I worked from. I take commissions from customers and enjoy working on pet drawings. 

The first (above) is Chester, I was commissioned to draw his portrait in 8x8" colored pencil, varnished and mounted on an Ampersand 3/4" cradled Claybord. I am attaching the photo I worked from because it was not a good reference photo. Fortunately, the customer had other photos of Chester for me to use as reference to get the color of the fur, eyes and details.

Here is Rocco, he is drawn in colored pencil on white Stonehenge paper, 11x14". He was then matted and framed under glass for the customer. I've included the reference photo I used to work from. 

Here is Cyrus, also 8x8" on Stonehenge paper mounted to Ampersand 3/4" cradled Claybord. The first photo is his portrait, the second is a side view in order to see the Cradled Claybord and sealed/varnished drawing. The third is the reference photo that I worked from. 

Pet Portrait of Arnold

This is a pet portrait I just finished for a customer of a beloved dog, Arnold. This portrait is 8x10" and I worked on UArt 800 grit paper. I started out using Faber Castell Polychromos pencils because they aren't waxy and can be burnished/blended into the surface of the paper with a brush. The UArt paper is very textured so I like using the Polychromos pencils especially for the first layer because they become powdery and will blend right into the surface for me. After I have a good layer of color on the surface, I will continue using the Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils to layer color on the piece and render the fur and features. To finish, I sprayed a fixative over the piece and framed it under glass.

Oscar and Cooper Pet Portrait

This is the latest pet portrait I just finished for a woman in California who owns these two lovely cats, Oscar (left) and Cooper (right). I worked from a variety of individual photos she sent me of the cats to put them together in one 11x14" drawing (apparently these two aren't friends!). I could tell by her photos that Cooper likes to pose for the camera so he was easy to draw. I looked at several pictures of Oscar in order to get his face, body and coloring right. I drew this piece on Strathmore Artagain toned paper, in which I like the tones but the paper is very smooth and doesn't take enough layers of colored pencil. The piece is worked predominantly in Prismacolor pencil with a few Luminance added.

Two Pet Portraits and an Award

These are two 8x10" commissioned pet portraits that I just finished, Bella is on the top and Ruby is below. Both are worked on Ampersand Pastelbord, Bella is on Sand Pastelbord and Ruby is on white Pastelbord tinted with brown tones of watercolor. Both pieces are worked in colored pencil. I have added odorless mineral spirits to the colored pencil to smooth out the texture in the background to compliment the fur textures of the dogs.

I am very excited because my colored pencil piece Seafoam has won the Frank C. Wright Medal of Honor Plus award in the American Artist Professional League's 86th Grand National Exhibition. I was honored to have been accepted to this wonderful exhibition shown at the Salmagundi Club in NYC, now I am doubly honored to have won this award. Seafoam is 16x18" colored pencil on rag illustration board.

Pet Portrait of Mylo

I've been working on a 6x8" commissioned colored pencil portrait of this little dog, Mylo. I am working on Rtistx RTX300 board which has a nice tooth to accept the colored pencil and a surface I can varnish later. I can also cut the board and have nice smooth edges which I need because I'm going to frame this piece in a floater frame when it is completed.

For the first several layers of colored pencil I am working on the heated Icarus board in order to melt the pencil and have it go on smoothly and fill in the textured surface of the board where I need it. I can add more layers of pencil and build up the dogs fur with color and texture without too much of the textured board showing through. The Icarus board also helps mesh the pencil into the surface so I can build layers quicker. In these photos, the background hasn't been worked at all yet.

I'll post more photos when I have the portrait completed.