art2art

Sketching pets: which medium to use

May 27, 2012

Sketching pets in various media

Today I discuss which media are best suited to sketching your pet. The illustrations here are pictures from my own sketchbooks, mostly of my Border Terrier, Freddy.

Pen and ink drawing

For the last few years, pen and ink has been the main medium used in my sketchbooks. Both rollerball and cartridge-type pens are wonderfully convenient. There is no mess, they do not spill, fade  or smudge. Wherever I go, I usually carry a sketchbook and pen in my bag.

The double-page spread, above, illustrates the adaptability of pen lines for both fluid “loose” sketching and for a more detailed build-up of detail.

My current favourite sketching pens are Artpens made by Rotring. These have a slightly flexible nib that can produce a “lively” line. I prefer the feel of old-fashioned dip pens even to my Artpens, but, following an incident, am now too nervous of spilling ink to take a dip pen and ink bottle around with me for sketching. The Artpens (“Fine” and “Extra fine”) are a good second best to dip pens.

 Above are two drawings made with an Artpen, showing how detail can be built up with crosshatching and fur can be suggested using lines.

Here I had a day of being curious about how things looked from different angles: 

In the sketchbook, below, I sat down and drew both plants and my dog with some attention to detail on the right-hand page, again using an Artpen.

The bolder drawings on the left-hand page were drawn in black chinagraph pencil which I shall discuss more fully later in this post.

The only cartridges that can be used in an Artpen are made by Rotring themselves. These are available in various colours. So far I have tried out black and brown inks and these are both watersoluble. A brush pen filled with plain water is handy for working back into the pen lines.

Both the black and brown inks take on a rather purplish tone when water is added. The following drawings (right-hand side of the book) were done with brown Rotring ink in the pen:

See how much bolder the ink drawings look (above) compared with the pencil drawing on their facing page.

Watercolour

 I don’t seem to have used watercolour very often for drawing my dog. It can be used very informally in a sketchbook just to fill areas in with a wash of colour. I like to combine watercolour with pen or pencil lines when sketching, often using up whatever colour is left on my palette:

Brush and ink

In the sketchbook, below, I was working on ideas for a still-life picture. The lines for these drawings were made with an Artpen, then dark tone was added using black Daler-Rowney FW ink and a brush. I’ve included this double-page here to show you how this does give quite a striking effect within the sketchbook. Once again, the dog found his way onto the page as a line drawing:

If you are careful to avoid spillage, dilute ink can be carried about in a container and added to a line drawing as you work:

Black Quink ink tends to separate into subtle colours when diluted with water, and this produces an interesting effect:

 Coloured pencils

The pencils shown above are from the Faber-Castell Polychromos and Derwent Coloursoft ranges, and were used in this drawing:

A few black pen lines were included to increase the definition of the drawing.

The range of wonderful coloured pencils available is tempting. I need little excuse to visit the art shop and to choose yet more colours. A few strokes of one pencil can be used to suggest the exact colour of an animal’s tuft of hair, or light strokes can be layered to blend the colour. Derwent Coloursoft pencils are particularly blendable.

Pencil

Pencil is handy for sketching in that it is very easy to carry around, and is easily erased if errors occur. Unfortunately, it smudges and fades unless fixed, and does not have much impact or reproduce well.

In the following images, I was drawing my own arm in pencil, but then got distracted by the dog who is of course far more interesting:

Chinagraph pencil

Normal coloured pencils produce subtle lines and are easily smudged. For bold, permanent lines consider using a chinagraph pencil. Below is a detail from a double page of my sketchbook. The dog was drawn in coloured pencils and pen, then the rabbits were added in black chinagraph pencil:

The waxy chinagraph pencils are available in black, white and a limited range of other colours. I do find it difficult to keep them sharp, and they easily break when I re-sharpen them. Aside from this frustration, they are great for sketchbook work as they do not smudge at all and encourage a bold, direct approach.

Working in soft pastel

For a completely different effect, try sketching in pastels. Keep the colours simple. It helps to start off each picture with just four colours of your choice: Pick a warm light colour (e.g. a cream), a cool light colour (e.g. a bluish light grey) and a warm and a cool dark colour. In the image below, I used a stick of soft willow charcoal for some of the initial drawing:

The available range of pastel colours is amazing. Once again, I find it hard to stop buying when I am in the art shop. My favourite brand for softness and delicious colour is Unison (right):

I also love to use conte sticks which have a much firmer texture:

For sketching, the main drawback with pastels is their tendency to smudge. They can also leave your hands, bag and surroundings covered with powder.

You may get away with using a little firm conte crayon in your routine sketchbook (leave the facing page blank), but it is advisable to use a dedicated pastel book to protect your work. I like the Daler-Rowney pastel books, which come with textured paper of assorted colours. Each page is protected by its own piece of greaseproof-type paper, so your work won’t smudge when you turn the page.

Looking ahead…

I am looking forward to the next horse life drawing class which is set for Sunday June 17th:

https://art2art.org.uk/workshops/equestrian-life-drawing-sunday-june-17 

Do contact me to reserve your place.

My next post will probably be related to drawing horses. Let me know if you have any special requests for post topics, otherwise just watch this space! 

Sketchbook dog drawings

May 24, 2012

Ideas and tips for sketching your pet at home

Today I shall share some of the  dog drawings from my sketchbooks. This post is in memory of my Border Terrier, Freddy, who recently died at age 17 years.

 Here are some suggestions for drawing pets, this time illustrated by sketches of my own dog. These tips are applicable to drawing any animal from life.

A variety of poses per page

 Pets make great models, but you never know when they will change position. Be prepared to start more than one drawing on a double-page spread of your sketchbook. It doesn’t matter if one or more of these poses remain unfinished.

 In the two sleeping poses above, I had time to build Freddy’s structure up with pen cross-hatching, and also to suggest his shaggy coat with pen strokes.

In the awake poses, below, I have used a more fluid style of line to suggest his posture without any attention to tone or texture.

With a panting dog, consider what can and cannot be seen of the lips, teeth and tongue. In a shaggy Border terrier, the upper teeth and lips are obscured by hair, and we see a little of the lower canines (those are the long teeth) and tongue).

 In the sketchbook below, I did a few scribbly drawings of Freddy moving about before he settled down for a sleep.  The attempts to draw him in various fleeting postures adds a little character to the pictures of him sleeping.

  I made these two resting views into self-enclosed peaceful shapes, one on each opposite page.

 Here are three poses as seen almost from above as he changed sleeping position. He had long, shaggy fur over his back that parted in the midline. The shagginess could sometimes make it difficult to understand the actual structure of him and it is important not to fall into the trap of drawing every strand of hair. Sometimes the fur could be useful in my drawings, e.g. to help delineate where the middle of his back was positioned. Here I used the bulk of the fur to suggest his posture:

Sometimes I would embark on what I expected to be a longer drawing of him resting, only for him to move unexpectedly. This can be a blessing in disguise. See how most of these lines are left fluid and dynamic. The small amount of cross-hatching is restricted to one side of his head, and this is just enough to suggest which way the light is falling:

 The brief sketch on the left page, below, merely hints at the terrier’s outline. He then moved position, but this was enough to give plenty of information about how he was sitting:

 My pen drawings of Freddy were all made very directly, without any erasable under-drawing. Errors can be incorporated into the drawing. Indeed, multiple lines resulting from error can be beneficial, suggesting that the dog is moving or about to move.

What does your pet do?

It is easiest to draw your dog as he or she sleeps, but do try to sketch your pet engaged in their usual day-to-day activity if at all possible.  A good place to start is to draw them eating. You will hopefully have at least a minute or two to work:

If your pet tends to sit with a certain person, see if you can sketch them together. Freddy got on particularly well with my little boy, Oliver, who was forever picking him up. Here (on the left-hand page of the sketchbook, below)  is Freddy draped comfortably over Oliver’s knee:

Does your dog lie in a funny position? In his old age, Freddy went through a phase of wanting to lie upside-down and would rest like that for a few minutes. This is a challenging pose to draw (watch out for all that foreshortening) and he tended to roll slowly back onto his side so I had to draw rapidly:

  The dog in his environment

 Do suggest bits of your pet’s surroundings in your pictures. Cats and dogs choose places where they tend to rest in the home. The way in which they sit or lie in these spaces is meaningful and worth recording.

Here is Freddy towards the end of his life. By this stage, he was painful at times and wanted to lie with the left side of his head resting on his bed. He needed human help to get into this position but, once there, he would rest happily.

Here is Freddy surrounded by household mess that the children have left on the floor. He doesn’t mind. There is one of those soft wobbly balance cushions as well as a plastic water bottle. Being both blind and deaf, I think Freddy quite liked to be in contact with objects to give himself a point of reference:

 Experimental approaches to drawing

Pets are completely uncritical of our efforts, do not insist that we flatter them, and they do not mind a bit if we try unconventional drawing methods.

For example, here I used a chunky sticky of graphite to build up an image in cross-contour lines. These are lines that appear to curve over and around the form of Freddy and his bed.

This is a line drawing made with a Rotring pen, this time thinking of Freddy as more of a blank empty space and creating his image by building up short lines around him:

This drawing is layered with scribbly pen lines and ink wash. He emerges from the scribble on the page:

And here is the volume simplification drawing that I made of him just a few weeks ago:

A note about sketchbook layout

It is a good idea to change your drawing approach as often as possible within your sketchbook. This ensures that your sketchbook looks interesting to those who take a look through it. Different drawing methods also keep you on the ball as an artist, and ensure that you do not keep repeating the same picture over and again.

From time to time, you can even be a bit whimsical if you wish. In the double page spread, below, I drew Freddy sleeping yet again, but then imagined that he was dreaming of rabbits. He used to love to chase rabbits but never caught one:

The most obvious way to keep your sketchbook interesting is to work in a variety of media…

Remember to check this blog again on Sunday, as I shall be posting  about sketching dogs in various media, from pen to pastel.