Alfie in coloured pencil

Sweet Alfie, a commission I have recently completed. He looks like he was a special chap, now passed over the Rainbow Bridge and is sadly missed by his family.

I have chosen coloured pencil for Alfie and decided to concentrate on him only and keep the background clean, which I think suits him. Sometimes, and I use gut instinct here, I think a pet will look better with a soft coloured background and other times I feel that a clean background serves the purpose better. I don't know what it is that steers me in one direction or the other, but it does seem to work if I just go with the flow.

Size: A4

Medium: Faber Castell Polychromos

Support: Fabrianno Artistico HP

Trying out Landscapes

This is of a local scene, where I walk Tilly on most mornings. The photo reference for this was taken last winter just at sunrise. The geese were added from my imagination. They are always there and flying to and from the River Brue to Apex lake so are a feature of the landscape. I am just not a good enough photographer to capture them in flight, so added them later.

The picture measures about A3. I used Faber Castell polychromos on Bristol Velum finish paper.

Looking Back #2

 Here is a small update. Working on bringing up the colours in the shadows and deepening the darks for a bit of oooomph.

 This is my second attempt at this zebra, the first one, done on velour with pastels, is just too dark and gloomy for my taste so thought I would try again, this time with coloured pencils. I have used maize Pastelmat and Polychromo pencils. The background has been dissolved with low odour solvent.

The scan has come out a little yellower that the original, maybe I can adjust that next time. 

Size is about 16" x 12"