3 does

[JayS]

In some ways I liked the drawing without the background. It is very clean. The darkness in the foreground and the clouds, In my opinion, work against you. I would lighten the background so that the deer are the darkest image which I think would bring them forward toward the viewer. Another comment about the deer...I have a bird feeder handing just 10 feet from my living room window. The food in the feeders is really for the birds but the squirrels and the deer are trying to grow wings by eating all the bird feed they can hold. Four large feeders are emptied daily 5% to the squirrels, 5% to the birds and 90% to the deer. When alarmed the birds fly into the trees. The squirrels leap into the branches and the deer rotate their ears in the direction of the sounds that bother them. When they have identified the sounds as dangerous then they rotate their ears back and run. Although I really like the image with the ears back on the deer their next step would be for them to run. Having said this the image with ears back is really fine. As an artist you have the license to do what ever you like.
Overall I love your work.

[Mike Sibley]

I'm reserving judgment for now, because I agree with Jay, and I want to see it develop. But I do think the does are a little lost. And floating, which a more solid ground might fix.

So much for my "reserve"... fat chance!

[Laurene]

I agree with you both! That’s why I hesitated uploading that last WIP, but I thought it may be useful to someone to see that drawings sometimes go through ugly stages.

Jay, I’ll work on contrasts now which I hope will push the background back and the deer forward. Mike, I won’t let the deer float away , I’ll give them something to lie on. Fingers crossed!!

Jay, it must be wonderful to watch all of that wildlife at the bird feeder! If you look at my reference photo the does have their ears back and that’s the pose I wanted to use in my drawing. I loved the feeling that the poses evoked.

[Laurene]

I still need to do quite a bit more work on this, but this is as far as I've gotten. I've been working on increasing the contrast and starting a suggestion of ground cover. I'm thinking that I should add some suggestion of ground cover on the right behind the does. Please let me know if the deer are starting to blend less into the background now.
Thanks!

[Laurene]

I think I've gone as far as I can on this drawing. I added a little suggestion of vegetation behind the deer and I tweaked the young doe at left.
I'm going to call it done now. Thanks for following along!

[Mike Sibley]

It reminds me of a Victorian etching - very ethereal, with a misty touch of mystery. And it's a very engaging composition, implying that the main focus is out of the picture. And, as an obvious onlooker, I feel I want to keep very, very quiet

So, it's definitely done its job.

[Laurene]

Thank you Mike! I remember seeing a Robert Bateman painting a long time ago that broke every rule of composition. There was a single waterfowl on the water all the way to the right of a rectangular canvas. The waterfowl was facing right too. There was just a suggestion of a wake behind the bird on the left but nothing else. It seems odd, but it worked so well.

[Mike Sibley]

Thank you, Mike! I remember seeing a Robert Bateman painting a long time ago that broke every rule of composition. There was a single waterfowl on the water all the way to the right of a rectangular canvas. The waterfowl was facing right too. There was just a suggestion of a wake behind the bird on the left, but nothing else. It seems odd, but it worked so well.

There's an Ann Kulberg painting "Broken Rules" I use in my Advanced course that uses the same conception:

broken rules.jpg

Love Bateman. And Carl Brenders. I used to subscribe to the US Decor magazine many years ago and got to know their work well.

I saw an almost-completed Brenders (I think) painting one day in the mag. It had a fully completed setting around the white silhouette of a wolf. And I suddenly felt I was getting somewhere, because I had an almost completed setting around a blank Belgian Shepherd. I think we both felt the same way - we couldn't complete the character until it had a setting to exist in.

I forgot to mention that your drawing appears to be balanced, too - given the weight of whatever it is we can't see to the right.

[Laurene]

Yes, that’s exactly the idea! This is the Bateman painting I was remembering: https://www.artcountrycanada.com/batema ... -goose.htm

I think I’ve seen Carl Brenders do that too. I remember reading that Robert Bateman felt that all paintings are essentially landscapes because wildlife are simply part of that landscape. That explains your need to create a world for your subjects to live in!

[kwheller]

I just love your drawing! Its so suspenseful and keeps me wondering what they heard or are looking at. They appear at the point they are determining if they need to run, hide, or if its OK. I really like the effect you achieved with the contrasting background. It is very interesting and also brings out the deer. Beautiful work!