Beautifully done! Very lifelike.
Wowwwww
That is amazing Deb!
I am struck by the remarkable texture, accuracy and … in the contrast- which in some pastels I have seen; seems difficult to achieve.
not so in this picture- there’s a remarkable accurate sense of value and form.
congrats
Welcome Annette , Thankyou for your lovely comment. Deb
Thank you Jason, I enjoy the detail and to create a drawing which looks like the animal in question. Still room for improvement though. Deb
I guess that is what surprise me most (in a way);
I may not have a reference photo but it seems flawless! do you think its because you have slowly gotten better and more masterful (and able to see increasing subtle mistakes and flaws)? do you find as you get better that your standards go up and up?
: curious
It’s almost photo-realistic. I can’t even dream of ever achieving anything that good. Absolutely incredible!
Can I be cheeky and ask if you dd a transfer of the outline, or if you sketched by hand? It’s just incredible!
I took some graphite drawing lessons which helped me immensly. The teacher was brilliant, I just wish I’d had a teacher like her when I was at school many moons ago. I am self taught using pastels. The colour pastels were through trial an error, using soft pastels to now mainly using pastel pencils. Less messy. The soft pastel dust also causes me sinus problems and headaches, pencils don’t. I can see the improvement from when I first started, like anything time and practice. Deb
Hi Mark, I use a grid method most of the time to get the accuracy on scaling up. This was taught to me in a graphite class. I draw onto a separate piece of paper grided up and then transfer the outline to the pastel mat. You don’t want grid lines all over the pastel mat. I can draw free hand but, I like the accuracy as a wonky picture frustrates me and you cannot easily rub out mistakes. Deb
Thanks for answering Deb - makes a lot of sense. I’ve suffered from unwanted grid lines on finished drawings, and it’s not a good look!
May I be so bold as to ask what your chosen pastel pencil is? I’ve recently purchased some Faber Castell pastel pencils and find them to be a lot of fun, but I can;t really get any finesse or detail with them. I also find them difficult to layer and blend.
Hi Mark, I use Faber Castell, Derwent and Stabilo Carb-o-thello. I like Stabilo pencils as they are softer and blend better, Derwent have some lovely colours but, they always seem to break when I’m trying to sharpen. It could be me not having the best of techniques for sharpening. I use all brands when drawing depending on the colours required. Everyone to their own choice. The right paper can help as well. I’ve tried pastel papers which I hated, tried velour which can give a lovely soft look to animal portraits, and now I’ve settled on Clairefontaine Pastel mat for most of my drawings. Deb
I am sure your friend must be very pleased. This is fantastic!
This is really beautiful.
WOW! It just looks so real!! If you did not know better, you would think it was a photo…nice work!
Thank you, she is very pleased with it and wanting to get it up on the wall but, because of the lock down at the moment cannot get it to the framer she uses. Deb
Thank you Lori, much appreciated Deb
Thank you Isabel, that’s what I like to achieve a realistic look. Deb.
Outstanding work! I’m sure it was an excellent gift!
Great detail.
Jack
Thank you very much. Deb
that is absolutely wonderful. well done
cheers
wayne