Balentine the Bull Dog

I didn't count the total hours but I believe this is the longest I have ever had to work on a scratchboard. Balentine the Bulldog turned out to be a lot more challenging than I first perceived. I'm glad I had the practice with Camelot on short fur rendering or I would not have been sure how to make the short furs on a bulldog look even slightly believable. I'm pleased with the final product but at the same time I feel it's missing something. I think it may be the fact that Balentine is all white and I'm not used to working with so little color. All he needed was pink highlights for his ears and some of the fur. I'll let Balentine sit on the side for a few days and see if I can come up with anything or leave it as is. For now I present Balentine the Bulldog who looks like he has a lot of attitude!

Oh, and for a change of pace I am including a scan of the original photograph I worked from as reference so, you can compare the photograph to the artwork produced, as well as what I chose to change and leave in.

Photograph:

Medium: Scratchboard with water color wash - Size: 8x10

Camelot edited and older piece [Fawn]

After letting Camelot's portrait sit around and received a few critiques I went back and fixed a few things. I reworked the tongue which proved to be more difficult than I first preceived and added a few touch ups to the fur. Here is the final version I will be bringing to the shelter.


I also dug up an older piece I did about a year ago that I finally rescanned for a better quality image to display and have on the computer.
Through the pine trees
Scratchboard with a water color wash

Camelot

My first donation to the Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter. I'd like everyone to meet Camelot. She is an adorable year old Pit Bull Terrier Mix. Cammie has been at the shelter for awhile and has touched all the hearts she licks. Always welcomes you with a wagging tail and a big grin on her face, Camelot would be a great companion. Here is the beauty queen in her 'artistic debute'.

Medium: Scratchboard with water color wash


I recently purchased new tools specifically for use on scratchboard and Camelot's picture was perfect for trying out these new tools. I found a lot of interesting and new techniques that I can now use in the future. As much as I liked how Camelot came out this was a good learning experience as she was my first attempt at working with a dog with really short fur and getting the fur rendering accurate.