Penguin WIP

[Picasso2]

This penguin, acting like a porpoise, was drawn from a photo taken by my husband when we were on a cruise to Antarctica. I would really appreciate any suggestions as to how it could be improved, especially how to make the water more realistic.
Thanks

[Mike Sibley]

I would really appreciate any suggestions as to how it could be improved, especially how to make the water more realistic.

JEAN-Chinstrap-penguin.JPG

I'll begin by cleaning up your photo and restoring its values. Now I can appreciate it much better, there are two different areas of water:

THE WAVES
They work for me. The visible lines, following the direction of travel, add movement and vitality. And your lovely smooth gradated shading really describes them very well.

THE SMOOTHER WATER
This doesn't work too well, in my opinion. This is partly due to the coarse texture of your paper. Water is smooth and fluid, but your paper has introduced a grainy appearance that doesn't fit well with water at all.

The BIG splash is OK, although I can't help feeling it needs a hint of a "hole" from where the penguin emerged. But that's splitting hairs - it's OK as it is.

The little splashes are rather pearl-like. I feel they'd have worked better as just pure white dots, perhaps with a little shade under their lower edge (which you've done). Have you used indenting at any time? This would be an ideal subject to try it with. Indented round dots remain pure white and round no matter what you draw over them. They'd add sparkle to the top edge of the BIG splash, and realism to the little splashes. And - as I forgot to mention it earlier - you could use it around the front of the penguin too.

I don't get the full impression that the penguin is re-entering the water. Rather, skating along on the top. A few judicious splashes thrown out by the chest as it hits the water would add to your story. And maybe a few more thrown forwards of the chest, which would suggest both the forward movement and that the body is entering the water again.

As for the penguin itself, again the texture of the paper isn't helping. The back could be a much darker black and glossy with bright highlights - but not on that paper, it won't And, really strong blacks within the back would contrast with the Big splash and make it look even brighter.

Crikey!... I was only going to say Well done! ...and then I couldn't stop writing

[LindasPencils]

Mike - I believe that Picasso2 used Fabriano Artistico Hot Press 300 gsm for this work. I will encourage her to buy some Conquerer from you or else try a Bristol next term.
This is a really lovely work she created as part of our 'Water' theme, thank you for commenting with these helpful comments. Picasso2 has a lovely, fluid style of drawing, which can be quite free. I will be interested to see how she takes to a smoother paper.

[Laurene]

I certainly can’t add much to what Mike and Linda have already said, but I wanted to say that I love the subject matter. Both the penguin and action of the waves make this a unique composition. It’s great to see something so different!

[Picasso2]

Thanks everyone for your comments, and Mike, I'm pleased that you kept writing as these are very helpful tips. As Linda mentioned, it was Fabriano Artistico that I used and I did mention to her at the time that I was having trouble with the texture of the paper showing through ( this isn't a case of a poor craftsman blaming his tools, as I have used this paper for other subjects and never had that problem before, so was rather surprised!). I also was unhappy that I couldn't get the penguin to look sleeker, despite numerous layers of graphite. It will be interesting to try a different make of paper.
As you say Laurene, it is a somewhat different subject and really was an amazing experience to watch these cute penguins "porpoising" and giving the impression of almost flying. No matter how many documentaries you see, nothing can compare to seeing these amazing creatures in the wild (both on and off the land) and I could spend hours watching them. It's an experience I will never forget.
Thanks once again
Jean

[PogArtTi]

It is very nice drawing to me.
The water, its random and complicated nature is always something I'm happily trying avoid on my drawings
Therefore I believe you did draw it very nicely!
Yes, of course we can always improve here and there, therefore we are this forum members to listen to experienced artists and learn
Well done Picasso2