This is our 8 month old Maltipoo pup. Terry wanted a portrait of her so I did this for him. I've been putting it off because of white on white but after viewing some helpful videos and working Morgan's white Cockatiel, I decided to give it a go.
I actually worked this before Olaf giving me the confidence to draw him for Madison.
As a means of reference I can fall back on and maybe as an example to viewers using Procreate, I wanted to document how I work eyes. I do basically the same thing with human eyes.
With line sketches, I use the BeeJayDel's Standard Inker Streamline brush tool. This one is from a purchased brush pack he sells. As for thickness of line, it's a personal preference and for me it just depends on how much ink I might need to blend filling in areas.
My go-to brush tool for adding color and blending is one of the app's default brushes - Painting / Gouache brush tool. I've tried various brushes and always find myself going back to this one.
When Madison came to visit, she brought her dog, Olaf, with her. What was surprising with her dog, he didn't much care for Terry. Terry has a way with animals and has never faced one that didn't like him until Olaf came. Olaf would growl at him every time he saw him, which we all found to be funny. He was also territorial claiming the living room as his space. We think it's because his "momma" was there and he was just protecting her.
Because it seems that I am on a roll drawing dog portraits, she asked if I would draw him and this is what I did for her tonight.
This drawing is for my youngest granddaughter, Morgan, who recently lost her beloved cockatiel by the name of Sunny. She picked him up during her trip here to Florida two years ago. I wanted to do something for her as a memory keepsake.
Working white on white is most definitely one of my biggest challenges. I prefer not to use a background if I can get away with it. Another thing about white is choosing the right color for shadows/shading and it still look white.
Procreate using Gouache brush and TH Wash Stamp brush for the background.
With background and without the background.
November 3rd made one year ago my Mom passed. That day our neighbor sent another rose over for me and I decided to draw it for my Mom to share on her birthday.
After working Lilly for my eldest nephew, I worked on this for my youngest nephew. He's a Pitbull mix of some sort and is super sweet in nature.
He was one dog my mother actually allowed in her room. Mom wasn't exactly into pets of any kind but she liked, Bo!!
Worked the same way as I did Lilly only I worked the eyes first.
This drawing is of Sean and Tiffany's dog, Lilly. I worked this as a surprise to them as she's just as much their "baby" as their first child who was born about a month or so ago.
Drawing this was a little easier except for the ears and the curly tuffs under the face. With each drawing, I face various challenges but I feel it's good for me and helps keep my aging brain active trying to work out solutions.....lol. Even with that said, I do feel a bit overwhelmed or frustrated at times, depending on my mood. It might cross my mind it's too much, tempting me to quit, but I do try to persevere and follow through without giving up.
The challenge I faced with this one was the areas of long fur. Like hair, my eyes/brain want to focus on every little strand. I have to fight that tendency and try to see shapes or groups of color, darks, and lights while at the same time trying to suggest more detail. It's a balancing act for me that I do struggle with at times.
As with other drawings, I started out with a line drawing. This time instead of blending out the lines, working in black and white adding color later, I jumped in adding color on separate layers. Once I had the base color down, I would untick the line drawing and only bring it back up for reference as I worked. At the same time, I had Lilly's photo on my computer screen to view as I worked on my Ipad.
Using the Gouache brush tool, I scribbled color down and then blended everything out following the direction of the fur and shapes/positions of the darker areas.
Normally I work the eyes first but in this case I left that for later, along with the nose. The mouth was one of the last things I put in before finalizing with more shading and details. I added the tag last.
Darlene is here with us (my "sissy" through marriage) visiting for 10 days. Her first trip to Florida since we moved here. She is a first time grandmother and weeks ago I finished a drawing of her granddaughter she absolutely loved.
While here she asked if I would consider working a portrait of her Pap who means the absolute world to her. Although I avoid requests like the plague, I made an exception knowing what it would mean to her. Usually when asked to do something, I get too nervous and fearful I'll not meet that person's expectations so I avoid it.
Anyways...........I told her no promises but would at least give it a try not knowing if I'd be able to follow through with the portrait.
His hair was a challenge due to white on white background plus the white stubble and eyebrows but I managed to work through it (lots of trial and error).
Ending results ... she absolutely loved as did other family who know her and her Pap.
This year I decided to grow amaryllis bulbs again after the success I had last year. I ordered six regular bulbs from Holland Bulb Company (which I am still waiting to receive) and then found a waxed amaryllis through Amaryllis and Caladium Bulb Co. This will be my first experience with a self-contained flower bulb where all I have to do is stick in a nice sunny window and nothing more. My brother-in-law shared one he grew last year and I decided I wanted to try one as well.
As of two days ago...
My middle son, Neal, said how cool this looked........like pathways up a mountain. And he's right........it really does but I didn't think of that until he mentioned it.
