Black Lab

Title: Black Lab Portrait

Medium: Colored Pencil on Bristol Paper

Dimensions: 7 inches (W) x 5 inched (H), unmatted/unframed

Insight: This portrait started out as a small study for glossy black hair. It is incredibly difficult to capture the shine of a black dog’s fur without creating an overly blue cast or aging the dog with a gray cast. The small surface size allowed me to focus on a large portion of the dog at one time without getting caught up in minuscule details.

As always, I began this piece with the eyes. This allows me to bring life and energy into the animal from the beginning. When that life is captured it becomes as if I am revealing the animal rather than attempting to construct it from nothing.