Last of the trio

I finished my last of the 3 dogs for the weekly challeng on WC. This one is a mix breed named Zipper. I wasn't as happy with this one. I don't think I did this one justice. I was happiest with the husky. It is fun seeing everyone's drawings. Even the different mediums. I did all three drawings in mechanical pencil.

I have drawn animals for several years now. My accomplishment has been that I am now doing them freehand. Formerly I used a graph. I have no problem with graphs or people who use them. It makes it much easier to get ears, eyes, etc in the right places. And believe it or not, you can still make a mistake with a graph. But I was tired of drawing all those lines and then having to get them erased off of my drawings. Sometimes it was impossible to take every little bit off. It also caused smudging.

I am so much more satisfied with my drawings now that I can do them freehand. Such a freeing feeling. I still cannot measure. I have to just start at one spot and work at it until I get what I want. I might use a ruler to measure a dogs muzzle length but I just can't seem to do the lines or measurements most people use to get the proportions right. It just does not work for me, so I will stick with what does work for me.

Sometimes my measurements might be a little off but if the drawings please me, that is a plus. I also tend to do more line work. I tried to develop that more fully, but have found my style is more for the linework. It just seems to fit me better. Some things I can extend the tonal values but others just seem finished to me without. I seem to like the fact that I can get a likeness with just a pencil and some lines.

Looking forward to whatever new challenges face me next week. I am ready to start a new landscape in pencil and also to try another animal. This time in colored pencil. I wish to be able to do the fur of animals using the colored pencils. If I can make fur with pencil, I should be able to make it with colored pencils.