DRAWING MOSS #2 AND POPPY

MOSS

Thelma's dog at northstoke.blogspot.co.uk

POPPY

CT's dog at countrysidetales.blogspot.co.uk

These two dogs have been more of a challenge than I was expecting. They both have shaggy fur which is always more forgiving than a sleek hound with no room for extemporising. They have very distinct characters and, particularly with Moss, the first AND the second time, I had to do the eye twice. Thank goodness for the invention of the metal rubbing shield, at least that's what we called them at architectural college; they allow you to rub out very specific and tiny areas without smudging or affecting anything surrounding the mistake that needs removal. I took all these on my phone, and not that many (you may be glad to read) so apologies - some are absolutely terrible. Moss first.

I decided to do Moss bigger this time, and without the grass he was standing on. Big mistake on the time front because I needed to do much more detail but, with the unusual blessing of hindsight, thanks to the damned postal service, it was the right thing to do. As usual, I started with the eye, rubbed it out and did it for what was now the FOURTH time. Sketching in dark areas and the nose....

Moss has very white areas, which I find really difficult, and some really dark areas, which I like doing much more. I always stick with the head until I'm happy I've started to get the character right. BAD photo:

Some colour goes in and I start the dreaded white patch down the chest. How to define it with a grey pencil and not spend eight hours doing so?

Move on to easier bits and come back to it........

Still avoiding it.........

I can't avoid it any longer......too much grey though

Out with the rubbing shield....I'm happier. Sign it. 

I stand back and take a longer view and I realise the black patches on his head aren't dark enough.....

That's better.

And here's the final scan

And here's a strange photo of the one that went missing. It makes the pencil lines blend together into what looks like paint. Looking at it now, A VERY tiny part of me is glad I had to do it again. Do you agree?

Why was Poppy so difficult? I'm not sure really. CT wanted her head rather than the whole body so I had nowhere to hide. I think the amount of white fur was a challenge again and the transparency of all the stuff around the muzzle. 

Getting the colour involved helped a lot......

I can't tell you how many times the rubbing shield came out on this one!

Finished eventually:

And here's the final scan, for my reference and just in case the original ever goes missing or gets damaged.

Thanks so much to Thelma and CT for trusting me to draw them. 

I had a conversation with a few friends last week who were asking me how much I charged to do a drawing. They were outraged when I told them and berated me soundly. I suppose it's about confidence in your own worth, of which I have little. They made me work it out properly and the hourly rate is often below the minimum wage, so, I agreed I should raise it to £50 which has nearly killed me. I may never get another commission, but at least I'm not underselling myself as much, something Thelma has mentioned to me in the past funnily enough. 

So, until next time, here are my boys at sunrise a couple of days ago. Yes, the snow remains, despite sunshine and supposedly rising temperatures. The stuff in our garden is going nowhere and I nearly came a cropper on the ice sheet on the drive this morning. Have a great week.