Pet portraits in time for Christmas

These two were a little challenging because sadly the pets were no longer with us so I had limited subject matter to work with. The dog, Moppet (such a lovely name), was worked from a computer print out that had been sent as a Christmas Card. 

This sweet little Gemma is the spitting image of our cat, Topsy. We still have Topsy, when she cares to come home and we are so proud that she’s reached 7 years! 

Three faces of the season.

How cute is this little girl? She's carefully cleaning her paw. Or is she? Caption competition?

 

Sometimes I have to wait to after Christmas to share what I have been up to with some furry friends. Such is the case with these three lovelies. 

So good to be asked to do a rat again. I will always love rats and value them as pets as well as subjects!

 

A girl Yorkie and a boy with the best nose ever are this years delightful dogs. 

 

I can't wait for the new year to begin. It's going to be a good one. I think 2016 held a lot of challenges. How was it for you? 

It's beginning to look a lot like ...

 

The tree is up, I'm smashing chestnuts and school's out. Everything's looking and smelling very festive. But what's that on the sofa? Could it be a new furry addition to The Raggy Rat? Yes, that's two year old Ash, and this is his first Christmas in a family home. He seems to be taking it in his (long) stride .... 

Cathy, aged 11

What a beautiful gentle old girl is Cathy the retired racing greyhound. She belongs to a friend of mine, and I was asked to draw her out of all the special dogs my friend has loved!

When I began to sketch her out, it was really important to me to capture the soul that shows in her big brown eyes. 

After mapping everything out in dark sepia, I build up colours in layers, my favourite part of making a portrait. I'm really pleased with how Cathy turned out. 

A Handsome Black Dog ....

I A friend recently commented on the challenges of drawing black dogs! I've done a few, and a glossy black cat, and here is one I tackled fairly recently. 

This boy is done in coloured pencils, in a painterly sort of way. Have you been successful painting black pets?

Old Barney ....

In March, an old dog called Barney came to live at The Raggy Rat ...

His forelimbs are almost parting company from his body and his wood wool leaks out. But I love him. And so do others, it would appear! 

I think Barney appealed to me because I'm also a work in progress ....

Bobby the Dog ...

Working on this portrait involved tilting the head of the dog, removing his lead, back and shoulder, and adding in some of his neck and chest ...

There were lots of colours in this white dog! And as you can see, I left his head at a slight angle for the cute factor!

And his dear owner loves it :-) 

This is Lilli

A Yorkshire terrier from down the road ...

And she's been given the Raggy Rat treatment in time for Mother's Day!

A dog called Billy

This big beautiful boy recently passed away and I was asked to produce a portrait from this photograph ...

But as you can see, Billy's left eye is very much in shadow so I had to work a bit of Raggy Rat magic!

I always show my clients WIP images especially when I'm adding or changing details ...

And the family were very happy with Billy even saying its like bringing him back a little. And this is why I draw, to spread some smiles ....

And some happy tears!

Trixie - another dog portrait!

Trixie has been photographed indoors using a 'flash'. It makes her fur shine, but her eyes have become very reflective!

So while sketching her out in sepia, I filled in her pupils and added highlights to make them shine! 

Here she is in full colour, and ready for a birthday surprise!

Peanut The Beagle!

This is Peanut who was fun to draw with so many colours to build up the rich tan!

As you can see from Peanut's photo one of the eyes was clear and one was very much in shadow so I enjoyed the challenge of making the right eye reappear, using the left as a reference. 

White highlights show how the beagle has aged. At this point (below) the drawing looks almost done!

The final touch is the shading on the white parts of the dog, making the dog look three-dimensional in this area too!

I think Peanut is pleased with his portrait!

And so does his owner! 

Dog portrait anyone?

Look at this handsome chap! 

This year I am doing lots of pet portraits again, as we near Christmas. I always start by mapping in with black or dark brown ...

Then the fun part, layering on colours! 

Then suddenly, he will tell me he is finished! I hope it helps you to see the photograph I was working from, too xxx

Drawing time!

Here is a dog called Max. He has quite a lot of Alsatian in his barky self...

5 year old Mary sat next to me and had a go with pencils and felt-pens. 

And seven year old Matty also enjoyed colour mixing in making Max's portrait!

And so did I! Lots of progress pics for this guy on my Facebook page ...

A sweet lass called Geordie...

A Pup called Bailey ...

These two pics show colour build-up on this lovely boy, he was a pleasure to create and the portrait made his owners very happy as Bailey-Dog is no longer with them ...

Also to create this work, i removed the collar for a cleaner look, and drew in the fluffy head top which was cut off from the photograph! Pet portrait, anyone?

A Dog called Baxter!

Here are some WIP drawings on a characterful dog I just produced for a valentines present! The starting out I find difficult, as I only see part of the dog in front of me and I quickly want it to look right!

Then, once I have him all in, in this case I started with black, I can add in the other colours. I am working in coloured pencil here, and I make them very sharp with a blade! This is inportant for areas around the eyes and where fine hairs show up ...

Finally he is done, I can see from his eyes that he has collie in him!

One fish, two fish, red fish - blue fish!

A happy new year to you and all the best for 2013. Any resolutions? I am going to try and do the daily blog again xxxx

Another Dog Drawing ...

How I love to draw ....here i am building up colour and depth on a black, curly haired dog...some of you know that black dogs are not easy to draw!

And here is Archie, my friends dog, an older boy with a young heart! Archie I mean, not my friend! :-)

Pippn-Papillon! Pet Pawtrait!

The basic outline - pippin's eye were flashed-orange in the photograph, so i quickly fill the pupils in black, with an added white highlight ...

Putting in the mail colours, building up depth gently as I go ...

Looking very hard to pick out all the colours I can see, traces of strong pink and even blue for some of the shadows!