Gwens Girls

[Mike Sibley]

Since we put down our darks first, I should have initially made the black cat darker to start out with (in the area of full shade).

Yes, but... You should really have had a plan before you began. Nothing complicated; keep it simple - just "Mother is darker. One daughter has an almost black back, but not quite as dark. The other cats are all lighter than Mum." Then you look for the area in Mother that you can make really dark, or even black. Because that area defines "black" to the viewer.

So to correct this, I sprayed the drawing today with Winsor & Newton Professional Workable Fixative. It would then take the 4B, and then I burnished with 2B. I'm not certain it looks darker in the photo, but it does in real life.

That's an excellent solution. Personally, I'd have used only the 2B - not necessarily expecting it to darken the darks, but to dull and darken the light content. But I think your solution is better

The cat at 2 pm is a Tortoiseshell, but her fur on her back is almost black (but not as black as the black cat)

You see? If you'd realised that before you began, you would have allowed for it when drawing Mother. Also, it's sometimes a good idea to print out your initial composition guidelines (probably reduced in size) and then experiment with values. No detail - just block the values in, so you can see how they interact with each other, and how they affect the balance. It all helps you to form an overall picture of what you're trying to achieve.

I keep seeing little things here and there I want to fix.

....and I've no doubt you always will But, at some point, you do have to know when to stop. Otherwise, you risk overworking rather than improving.

Finally, your client won't see your drawing; she'll see her cats - her memories overlaid on your drawing. So, I think it's good to go.

[kwheller]

Yes, but... You should really have had a plan before you began. Nothing complicated; keep it simple - just "Mother is darker. One daughter has an almost black back, but not quite as dark.... Also, it's sometimes a good idea to print out your initial composition guidelines (probably reduced in size) and then experiment with values. No detail - just block the values in

Thanks so much for your help. I plan on learning from it and applying it to my next drawing. The same client also would like a picture of her 4 short hair male cats (including one who died recently). One cat is black, one is almost all white, one is black and white and the fourth is a tabby with white. I am going to have more of a plan and print out my initial composition guidelines and experiment with the values as you suggest. I find it challenging when one subject is black and one is white in the same drawing.

For this drawing, I am afraid of overworking it as you pointed out and I agree it's done. I will do my last spraying with the fixative today. Thanks again!