In The Studio

Hello and Happy Friday! Here’s what is currently on the drawing board in my studio.

I found this amazing reference photo (I can’t remember if its from Pixabay or from a facebook group, sorry) and I just HAD TO DRAW IT. Do you ever feel like that? If you can’t tell, its a Lion, and I think its licking the side of its muzzle. The tongue is the main focus of this drawing and I’m loving all the different values in it.

This piece is mainly in graphite, but I’m also using the Polychromos Black to get those extremely deep darks without the graphite glare. I’ve also filled in the background with the polychromos which will give me a solid black background and provide and excellent show of his scraggly mane.

The inside of this guy’s mouth is pretty epic. Also very time consuming. For the fur texture, I’ve taken an embossing tool and etched into the illustration board. Then when I go over it later with graphite, stark white lines will show up. This is also a great tip for getting in those pesky whiskers. BUT NOTE: this has to be done BEFORE you lay any graphite down!

I’m very eager to finish this majestic lion. I think he’s going to go down in the books as a personal favorite.

COME BACK NEXT FRIDAY FOR THE FINISHED ARTWORK! Can’t wait? Head on over to Instagram, then.