Mikey, chocolate labrador


Reposting as I put it on the wrong page.
Mikey, a 14 year old chocolate Labrador who passed away earlier this year. Drawn with a selection of pastel pencils onto pastel mat using some soft pastels for the background. I would occasionally meet his owner at our local dog walking field where Mikey used to chase my chocolate lab bitch. She would tease him something rotten and he just couldn’t keep up with her.

6 Likes

Looks great with that backing. Very well done

Thankyou Denise, backgrounds are always a sticking point for me. Deb

I am totally gobsmacked! What a superb picture. I seriously thought it was a photo, it is that well done. Absolutely beautiful! When I look into his eyes I can really get a sense of his exuberant personality. I feel like patting him. What a gorgeous boy.

How long did it take you roughly? I have been spending all night drawing a dog’s eye for practice using Prismacolor pencils. I can’t believe how difficult it is to get the colours and blending right.

Hello Panda, Thankyou for your lovely comment. Put it this way, I started the drawing in end of April this year. I normally say about two months to complete a drawing as I only draw when I have time and my husband is out the house. Then I can draw to my hearts content, the time just whizzes by with music on, dog fast asleep. I finished it the end of June. Pastels are a lot quicker to lay down some colour compared with pencils. Deb

I’ve never used pastels having recently upgraded from graphite to colour pencils. What size is the drawing? I find it difficult to work out the best size when drawing subjects.

Once again, great job. You should be incredibly proud for creating such a beautiful work of art.

I also started with graphite but, chose pastels as my medium. Since using pastels I’ve found that pastel pencils are better to use as I can get detail into the drawing. If I’m drawing a horse/dog portrait I normally use A3. Smaller dogs/cats A4. Mikeys portrait was in between the two. Frame size was 40 x 40 cm so picture was approximately 30 x 30 cm.
Thankyou, I hope I improve each time I do a pastel but, flowers are a work in progress for me. Animal portraits come much easier to me. Deb

Thanks for the info Deb. I always thought pastels were for kids, having a set of “block” type of pastels. I couldn’t imagine how on earth you would use them, hence thought colour pencils would be my next goal, after the graphite pencils to learn the basics. I have to say though, I’m finding them quite difficult to grasp, especially working out layering colours.

You have totally inspired me. How long have you been drawing for? Do you have any more drawings on this forum? I would love to see more of your work.

If you would like to message me privately we can have a chat.
Deb