Art Commission - Foal Sketch (Roxy)

Here is a pencil sketch I've just completed of a foal (called Roxy) When I was out in the field with her owner to take my initial shots, she just kept running away to her mum, but my patience paid off, after kneeling down with my camera, she felt relaxed enough to be curious and came up closer and I was able to get the shots I wanted. I decided on her right side as the coat pattern on this side looked best. I am using a Canon EO5 Digital SLR.

The finished sketch was done on A4 cartridge paper. I used a Derwent Graphic Designer pencil set which has the pencil range I needed (4H - 3H -2H - H - F - 2B to 6B) This time I found that for this sketch, I used mainly pencils 4H, 2H, HB and 2B. I then scanned the finished sketch into Photoshop. As it was an overcast (and very windy) day I had to tweak the brightness and contrast of the chosen photo in Photoshop to bring out the facial muscles and tones in the dark section of the coat.and played around with the tone levels before I printed the final image on A4 size 300 gsm cotton canvas. This really enhances the pencil work I put into a sketch, in fact I believe this final result looks better than the original A4 sketch.

Art Commission - Albert and Babs

Here is a pencil sketch I've just completed of a couple (Albert and Babs). The sketch was done on A4 cartridge paper. I used a Derwent Graphic Designer pencil set (from WH Smith - currently my favourite pencils) which had the pencil range I needed (4H - 3H -2H - H - F - 2B to 6B) I found that for this sketch I used mainly 4H, 2H, F, HB, 2B and 4B. I then scanned the finished sketch into Photoshop and played around with the tone levels and printed the final image on A4 size 300 gsm cotton canvas. I feel thaafter scanning the original sketch and printing it out onto A4 canvas really enhances the pencil work, in fact it looks better than the original sketch. Completion time was about six hours.

Art Commission - Girl and her Dog

This is a sketch of May and her pet dog "Ralph" sketched from a photograph onto canvas and then scanned into Photoshop and printed on A4 Cotton Canvas (I just love the finished effect you get printing on canvas). I also have to add that this shaggy dog was probably one of the hardest pets I've ever drawn, but my patience paid off.

I used the Derwent Graphic Designer pencil set that I used for the Horse sketch (April - see previous post) this time I tried sketching straight onto canvas instead of onto cartridge paper (my favourite medium) this, I feel gave me a fantastic texture to work with for this particular subject (soft focus photo and shaggy dog).

Art Commission - Horse Sketch (April)

Here is a pencil sketch I've just completed of a horse (called April). The sketch was done on A3 cartridge paper (A3 spiral bound sketch pad available WH Smith). I used a Derwent Graphic Designer pencil set (also from WH Smith) which had the pencil range I needed (4H - 3H -2H - H - F - 2B to 6B) I found that for this sketch I used mainly 4H, 2H, F, HB, 2B and 4B. I then scanned the finished sketch into Photoshop and played around with the tone levels and printed the final image on A4 size 300 gsm cotton canvas. I've found out that scanning the original sketch and printing it out onto A4 canvas really enhances the pencil work, in fact it looks better than the original A3 sketch.