Staffordshire Bull Terrier

[Cazza59]

I was asked to draw this dog for my client's brother in law. His wife has recently passed away and she got the dog before that happened. Molly now keeps him company.

I drew this on pastelmat usng Polychromos pencils. It was bigger than I normally draw, at A3 size. The client is super happy, but I would be interested to learn of any areas that I could improve on in my next drawing.

Now I will try to add the image, LOL.

molly stitched together.jpg

I hope I did this right as its my first attempt to post here.

Carol

[Tim8031]

Terrific job.

[Cazza59]

Thank you very much, Tim.

[Mike Sibley]

I think our Linda (LindasPencils) is the person to listen to for advice with pastels - assuming advice is needed, of course

From a purely drawing point of view I think it's spectacular. And one thing that really struck me was... that the nose cuts across the left-hand eye but it's instantly understandable. I think that was something I might have tried to avoid. Not because it's "not right" but because it's so easy to get it wrong... which you most certainly have not. That little bead of water in the bottom really does its job admirably too.

I do find the colouring of the ears a little over-bright and distracting, but the colouring is quite possibly correct, or it's just that my monitor has a love of orange and pink

My first reaction when I saw this - and I pay a lot of attention to the first reaction - was.... OH, YES! You nailed it

[LindasPencils]

assuming advice is needed, of course

Naw. Carol doesn't need my advice! This is wonderful work.
...everything you said Mike, ditto...

Re the pinkness used - my monitor have them quite bright as well. I tend to avoid using the straight pinks of the pencil (same with the greens). Instead I will layer first with a cream yellow before adding the pink. Also I will try and use a contrast/complimentary colour for the shadows in those areas to tone down the brightness. So something like a indigo blue or dark purple in the oranges.

Maybe do a few experiments and play around with different ways to layer and alter the hues of pinks and other colours another time. Sometimes pink or green straight from the tip can be a bit unnatural looking and you need to balance it. Remember too the hue adjacent will affect the colour as well.

I sure can see why the client loves this work. It is a treasure.

[Cazza59]

Oh my goodness, thank you both for your lovely replies!

Interesting that you both picked up on the ears, as they were the bits I was least satisfied with. Once I had the pink overly bright I had trouble trying to soften it on the left ear. The right ear went much too orange, I wish I had known about using a blue to tone it down! In the photo it was indeed darker and brighter than the neck fur which looked a little odd to me.

Thank you again, and if its ok I would love to post more drawings in here for feedback.

Regards,

Carol

[Mike Sibley]

...and if it's OK I would love to post more drawings in here for feedback.

Well..... eeeerrrrmmmm... let's see....?

What the heck - throw 'em at us!

Preferably one at a time

[Laurene]

Just beautiful!! When I want to reach out and hug an animal in a drawing I know I wouldn't change a single thing a about it!

[Cazza59]

Aw thank you so much Laurene.

Regards,

Carol

[PogArtTi]

I'm a BIG fan of this type of breeds, so you have me adoring this stunning portrait as well