Charcoal Pup: WIP

I started this a few days ago and haven't had the chance to share it on my blog till now. I immediately feel in love with this photograph and knew it would transfer beautifully into a piece of art. A big thanks to John De Bord Photography for giving me permission to use his photo! I started off by using primarily black and white charcoal pencils with some hints of NuPastels for the really black/white spots.
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I'm not sure what I want for the background yet. I'm taking some time to think about it. Meanwhile, I have always wanted to try velour. Many of the pastel artists I admire use this particular type of velour paper that is only available in the UK. I found a website that sold it. It should come by the end of this week. I can't wait to try it out! 

WIPs

The wolf isn't floating in the air now. I added a base paint for the rock and slowly added in some color.
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I worked on a commission in between waiting for the paint to dry on the wolf. Right now it looks like a cat in a void of green. Sometimes works in progress can look really weird. The green I am placing down is the base coat for the grass that the cat is "hiding" in. Not the best image since it's an 11x14 that won't fit in the scanner.

What Big Teeth You Have!

I put the perspective wolf to the side for a day. I'm waiting to get some crits from fellow artists. In the meantime I wanted to do a quick charcoal drawing. I wasn't angry at the time of drawing but the wolf sure was :) I may go back to this and a background at some point
Photo Permission: Tambako [Thank you so much!]
Medium: Black/White Charcoal on grey sanded pastel paper
Size: 11x12
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A Different Perspective

February is turning out to be a slow commission month. The only good thing about this is I get free time to sharpen my skills and experiment. I've been wanting to work more on scratchboard. I was given permission awhile back to use a photo and finally have the time to capture it in a work of art. 

First WIP: CLICK TO VIEW FULL SIZE

It's a little hard to see just yet but this wolf is on a rock and the photo was taken from below. I love this perspective! 

WIP 2:

I have finished the first round of scratching. Now I will go back in with ink and give it more shadows. I plan to tackle the rock with acrylics. 

Chance: Complete

Chance the cat is finished. This striking cat turned out to be a challenge but in the end it was well worth it. I experimented more with NuPastels as the base coat and used my pastel pencils for finer detail. I'll be using the NuPastels a lot more now.
Medium: Pastel on sanded pastel paper
Size: 8x10
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Taking a break

I took a break from working on Chance. Actually I'm waiting to hear from the client. In the meantime I haven't had a chance to work on scratchboard with all of the pastel commissions. So, I started to fiddle with one tonight. I started with my favorite wild cat, the Ocelot.
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