Work In Progress

I have been teaching a beginner drawing class for the past 5 weeks. The last class the focus was on stages of developing a finished drawing. This is an approach I take as do many artists, but not the only approach. I stress this to the students as each student will find their own unique way to develop a drawing.

We first used a pen to sketch out the subject , which in this case was a wolf and an eagle. The object was to sketch in  an overall shape then add in defining shapes or hidden shapes.  Doing this they look for  lights and darks  and indicate it using a pen..no erasing. It is always a little fearful to  not have an eraser on hand to correct mistakes, but surprising to most was how well  they  captured the essence of the animal, fairly accurately. This was also an exercise in restating a drawing.

Next step was to use pencil and using both reference and pen sketch to establish a pencil drawing  and work out any trouble spots...eye shape , direction, direction of feathers or fur, overall proportions...etc....

Once the student is happy with the pencil rendition of the subject , which is more of a line drawing , it is transferred to a clean  piece of paper. It is at this stage they start shading as taught in previous classes  and focus on the detailing line work.

This is a process and not for every drawing but it is a good process to work out a drawing, establish values and then focus on detailing.  I am easily overwhelmed with drawing and my process is to brake it down, as is for many artists. Practise, as in anything, makes it easier, and what I once used to do on paper , I now  do in my head..comparative measurements, values etc.

I am now working on a wolf painting. Was inspired by students drawings. With the painting it is a different approach . This style of painting is much looser than a drawing , but i am still interested in overall shape, darks and lights and accurate detailing.  I am trying to establish a certain look. I am loosely adapting some wolf images from Morgue photos which are free to use.  This is the beginning. I started with a palette knife then switched to a brush to blend. Then started on the one side to establish some form accentuating lights and darks....  Anyway....this is where i am at....I quite like it. Need to develop the eyes and build the layers of fur. Want to keep it loose though and not overdo it.