Hello, its been a while since I have had a chance to write about whats been going on, sorry about that. Well there has been quite a lot going on so I thought I would take some time out to show you a little sneaky peek of what I have been getting up to since my last post.
While selling my cards and prints at the Made-it Market craft fair in Cambridge back in March, I was very lucky to be commissioned to create a drawing of a beautiful Shiba Inu breed of dog called Troy. I must admit when I was told he was a white dog, I felt quite nervous about how I was possibly going to tackle this challenge, but with some fantastic photographs to work from it made my job that much easier.
This is my first commission for a dog portrait and I really enjoyed doing it, its great to be able to get to grips with something a little different and get back to drawing which is what I truly love to do. The picture was to be a Wedding gift for the owner of the dog which I thought was such a fabulous idea. It was also fantastic to hear so much about the dog’s character and obviously this chap is truly adored by everyone he meets and very well known amongst his local community. When you see his photo then it really is no surprise, what a handsome dog! I really do hope I have managed to capture these qualities within the picture.
So, I have taken photos of every step of the way in creating this illustration. I build my colours using layers of coloured pens and then add the finer details at the end with pencil or graphite. This is the same technique i use for all of my designs. I hope you enjoy looking through the different stages of the piece.
I added only dots for eyes at this stage as I was not entirely sure if my client wanted a realistic image or a more stylised picture. I figured it is much easier to add to a picture than to take away.
At this stage I sent a proof to my client to get some feedback or any thoughts that they might have about the illustration so far. The feedback was really good and all they wanted was to have the eyes filled in and more of the orange blossom adding. The orange blossom was added to add some decoration the the picture and also add a japanese feel as the dog is a japanese breed and we thought it only fitting to add some representation of his origins within the picture.
I am pleased that the eyes were given more detail and the extra orange blossom seemed to fill the gap quite well.
This is the final result framed at the fabulous Makers Gallery in Cambridge.
If you would like a commission of a beloved pet creating perhaps for a birthday gift or christmas gift (good idea to order early) then please do just drop me a line, I would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading, please feel free to comment or share!
