Practice- Tino

After an unexpected hiatus I have finally returned to art. I'm very excited because I have a lot of commissions to keep me busy. But, being on hiatus I needed practice before I tackled the hard work. So, here is Tino. The reference [supplied by an online community for cats] caught my eye and it looked like a fun way to get the 'creative spark' going again. I do not do cats often but I certainly would like to try them more often. Not one of my better scratchboards, I think some of the proportions are off but I learned techniques for rendering cats in the future. Now, I think I'll be ready to go tackle those commissions.
Medium: Scratchboard with water color wash
Size: 5x7

Wolf In Progress

I've been doing a ton of scratchboard lately and wanted to get away from it. I decided to go with something that would give me a good amount of freedom and I could really mess around with. I decided to draw a wolf and paint it in acrylic similar to how my Into the Wild illustration was done. I experimented a bit more by adding color to the eye with Prismacolors and outlined the eye in ink.

I have yet to decide a background. I was thinking of perhaps a fantasy type of scene...Any ideas?

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.

Holly

My dad's birthday present. This scratchboard with a water color wash features the dog we had when I was a baby. Her name was Holly. We are unsure what mix she may have been. After hearing about her abandonment at work my dad rescued Holly off the streets. She was a sweet, lovable dog that was incredibly loyal to my dad.

The Call of the Wild Color Illustration

The second illustration for my illustration class final project.

Medium: Gouache

"Best of all, perhaps, he loved to lie near the fire, hind legs crouched under him, fore legs stretched out in front, head raised, and eyes blinking drearily at the flames."