Saturday 3 May 2008

Doggy doodles and pandas to boot




Here are a few pieces I have been playing with over the last week or two. The dogs are, of course, Stanley. I was trying to figure out the tonal values of his fur. Unfortunately the paper was too grainy to allow nice blending. I cannot say that I am overly happy with my sketching technique. I look at some artists' sketching and they can convey so much with just a few lines. I tend to hold on tight to my pencil and scrunch as much detail into what I am sketching. Oh, for a wild and free technique that allows a good standard of detail. Am I asking for too much? Probably. Anyway, I am hoping to work on a painting of Stanley soon.

The two pandas were also just excercises. I love pandas, they have such cute faces (but big teeth). The one with the bamboo was meant to show a technique that suggests the shape of the panda rather than dictating it. It shows white fur on a white background but the shape is filled in by the viewer's brain. It probably has a technical name but I have forgotten it right now. However, I think my detail radar has sneaked in there and added a few brush strokes around the head. The second one is cute but verging on the cartoon style. He was causing me trouble and I ended up over working him.

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