I've had a number of enquiries about 'Lottie', the miniature poodle that I featured on the blog back in 2017. Lottie is still very active, and I often meet her when out for a walk. She is invariably accompanied by her more senior companion 'Tolly', whose portrait I also drew some time ago. I am often asked how long it takes me to do a dog portrait, so this month I've reached into the archives for my working sketches that underpinned the finished portrait. ~ Lottie began life as an apricot poodle, but has gradually faded to white with a hint of apricot in the ears and muzzle. Her owners were keen to have her committed to paint before the apricot vanished altogether. First off, I like to meet and bond with the dog - Lottie lives locally, so we were able to spend time walking, chilling out together and playing her favourite poodle games. As she couldn't keep still for more than 5 seconds, I had to take lots of photographs and film clips to back up my sketches and colour notes, the final subject being worked in my studio. The preliminary drawings are done in charcoal on A4 copy paper. They are worked quite rapidly, capturing aspects of character and movement, and looking at angles quite different from the final pose, but which helps to give me information in the round. I use the side of the charcoal to block in the back ground, and the textural effect is created by the paper itself. I use fingers to smudge in the lighter grey tones. Lottie's ears equate to what in humans used to be known as 'big hair'. What was going on structurally underneath them was anybody's guess, so I did this drawing of her without ears. Don't be alarmed - here is a subsequent study with her ears back in place. I can confirm that this sequence of drawings was done without recourse to either surgery or superglue! Altogether I did around two dozen tonal studies of Lottie before starting the actual portrait. In addition to tone I need colour notes. Although photos are useful for back-up information, there is much that the camera will distort, including colour values. So my primary material has to come from direct observation. This colour swatch was made using the paper chosen for the portrait, and observing the warm/cool effects of both light and shade on the subject. You may just be able to see that some colours are ticked and others are crossed out, as I narrow down my selection. For the portrait, I chose a Fabriano Ingres 160gsm laid paper in a mid-toned warm grey. This provided both a foil for the white fur and the apricot ears, and an unobtrusive background for the subject. Having chosen the pose, I start with a tonal under-drawing. I prefer to use willow charcoal for this, as it will disappear into the subsequent layers of colour, whereas graphite would show through the finished piece. I work very lightly at this stage, ghosting in the tonal values, in order to retain most of the paper tooth for the pastel, and to avoid sullying the later application of colour. All the above gives you an insight into the preparation that underpins the finished work. The portrait itself is worked over a number of sessions, and when I reach the point where I've stood in front of the easel for half an hour, only to make one small, but crucial, mark, I know that's it. The finishing touch is in place. Here she is, finished. Although Lottie is almost white, there is very little white pastel in the portrait. White objects tend to appear warm in sunlight and cool in shadow, so the colours used were all very pale tones of ochre, blue-violet and pinkish greys. In context these pale hues create the appearance of white, whilst avoiding the flat, chalky look of pure white pigment. Having just been clipped, her coat resembled a very tight perm, and each of those curls had its own shadow, involving a lot of detailed work with attention to warm/cool pairings and texture. As for Lottie herself, by the end of the exercise, she was totally flaked out. Go to the Animal Portrait page for more examples of animal portraiture, and use the contact page to enquire about commissioning a portrait of your pooch.
Comments are closed.
|
Judith Key
Judith Key is a Norfolk based artist, working in watercolour and pastel. She has exhibited with the Society of Graphic Fine Artists and New English Art Club at the Mall Galleries, London. Her paintings are in collections worldwide. Categories
All
Archives
May 2018
|