remember when i did this one in memory of my kitty last year? she is not perfect but you get the idea..oh and her eye really was messed up like that in real life, she was a rescue

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Oh yeah, I remember your kitty.I always admired your animal drawings especially big felines.

Another progress report on Roxie - I backed up, erased a lot of the dark markings I had already put on her and went with the layering using the 4H pencil. It really pays off. I have darkened the picture so it will show detail a little better, in reality she is still very light. The bee pee is below the furthest point in the drawing and I also discovered a little spot on the right side of her face. I don't think it showed on the scanned drawing - maybe there's hope! I also changed her chin line a little and I swear it just doesn't look right, although it's following the photo (as far as I can tell).

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she is looking very sweet...

i hope the spot works out ok..maybe if you put a fixative on it you can then work over it? i think you may be stuck with your 'spot' .

Too bad about the bee incident ... I can't really see it in your photo, but I suspect it's low down on the left side? If so, and you cannot work with it, you could always crop the image above that - as long as you have the head and some neck it ought to work.
Ken

Well I know when to give up. Between the bee pee, pencils I didn't like, and the complete inability on my part to work on smooth paper, I finally scrapped the drawing last night and am going to start again today using a paper with a little more tooth. The weekend promises to be sunny and warm, so I'll have to fit in time for painting too! Wish me luck (and skill)!

I have been there myself .. while it is frustrating, it's surprising how much easier the drawing is to do the second time around. You have subconsciously learned the tricky parts and can move through them much easier. Every time that has happened to me, I have found the second drawing came out significantly better than the first.

Well, here's today's update on this drawing. I worked primarily on that second eye but a very little above it and nothing on the bottom (including the bottom line). It's coming along I think ...

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Ken

This is going to be one worth waiting for. Shows how being patient and taking the time to do it right will get you. But still can't wait to see it finished!!

Absolutely wonderful! I love the soft "feel" of this drawing. Agree with Nancy, worth waiting for!

Thanks guys. Patience is one thing few books really spend much time talking about but I think it is one of the most important things in drawing. If you rush you won't do your best work and you'll miss out or gloss over some things that are really important in the drawing. I spent another few hours on this yesterday but it's got to a slightly ugly stage now because areas aren't finished. The nose needs more work and the cheek/jaw isn't done yet either. But there's always the next sitting so this will have to do till then.

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Thanks for looking,
Ken

lovely looks.you can tell from her attitude she is a pet.the coat makes you wish touching her.

Thank you Elena. I'm enjoying drawing her.

Looking great!

Thank you Paulette. I just wish I could manage to get a better photograph of the art. Oh well ... I keep trying.

What are you doing now to take the picture?

I'm sorry Paulette .. somehow I didn't get notification of your post.

The way I photograph now is with a pair of 500W Tunsten bulbs in reflectors with umbrellas and a Canon XTi on a tripod and set to raw, F11 or F16, a 55 -135 lens, and then what the camera says is the right shutter speed. Either I get hot spots (like today's) or I get those terrible shadows. I have tried outside but things always seem washed out terribly. I don't know why I can't get a reasonably decent photo but I don't seem to be able to.

I used the umbrellas today and bracketed the shot which helped some. As for the drawing, I still have a lot to adjust in this before I move on but it's making headway now.

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Ken

Ha, your well above my knowledge level for photography!
The only thing I could add, is that I take my pictures in side, but right at my patio door, which is pointing NW.
For me it is better than inside with lights and better than outdoors in the sun.
I have a point and shoot and use the macro, I don't know if that tells you anything.... probably not as your pictures look better than mine.
A quick Google on photographing art gives back many results.

Thanks Paulette .. I've spoken with a number of pros about it including B&H about lighting and technique. Unfortunately I think the problem lies mostly in me ... I have the wrong gift. I can take a perfectly good camera in a perfectly good setting and create a horrible photo. That's a gift too, isn't it?

I did discover a couple things last week that helped. I used the umbrellas with those 500W Tungsten lamps which diffused the light so there were no hot spots on the paper. I shot the image raw but overexposed it 1 stop according to the meter. Then I used Lightroom to adjust the exposure back a little and finished with some sharpening and tonal adjustments in Photoshop. In the end it is approximately the same as the original drawing except that it is still not the same quality. Digital images never are.

Oh --- I was going to say that you might get better results outside if you shoot in the shade. The neat thing about sunlight is that it is best if non-directional and that's what you get in shade. Not deep shade ... but in a cast shadow. I've never had much luck with outdoor photography of my drawings, but Armin Mersmann, for instance, takes his photos outside and he gets what I think are spectacular results. Could be the sun is different in Germany ...

Well like I said you have thought it out way further than I.

Here's this weekend's final. Unfortunately I didn't manage to finish her - still another 2-3 hours I think though possibly 4. But it's pretty close. It's at an odd time just now ... you'll be amazed at how much those whiskers will dominate this side of the face and their angle will change the expression somewhat. But I won't put them in till I'm sure everything under them is right - you don't get do-overs very easily with cat whiskers.

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Thanks for looking,

So you're going to erase for the whiskers?

yes .. that's how I do all my hair.

I did read that at the beginning
what do you use, an electric eraser?

Sparrowhawk,

Incredibly beautiful and the fur looks so soft!!! Love those eyes! Excellent so far will be watching for your next update!

Laura

What do you use to pull out the whiskers....electric eraser?

Thank you Laura .. you are very kind. Actually, I use a click eraser to do all my erasing because I can control it fairly well. Electric erasers tend to walk around on you because they are spinning. Even though I often have 15-20 layers on the paper in any one place, it's laid down in such a way that it really is on top of the tooth for the most part. That means the eraser can grab into it and simply lift it off, leaving white paper behind. It isn't entirely white, but it's pretty close.

Well, here's the final on this one. Overall I think I spent 40-45 hours though I wasn't counting. It's about 10x13" on Mellotex and done entirely in graphite.

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Thanks for watching,
Ken

Excellent pencil work!
Love those whiskers.

Thanks Paulette .. they're only a few light lines but they bring the entire thing together, don't they? Cassie's telling me right now how proud she is of them.

Wonderful work Ken - outstanding detail, feel like I could reach into the picture and pet her. I've really enjoyed this post, watching the work progress and all the learning too! Thanks!