Just before my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer, her dog Rocky passed away in his sleep. My mom really loved Rocky and wanted to have him memorialized with art. And not just art from anyone. She wanted me to draw him. 🙂
It really helps me to draw a dog if I have a great photo, and my mom had the perfect one of Rocky.
It took a few sketches to get the proportions of Rocky right.
I traced the sketch onto acid free pastel paper. As always, the first color I added was to the eyes and nose using pastel pencils.
The next part was coloring Rocky’s open mouth. This was actually far more difficult that I first thought it would be.
I’m almost done!
The final touches were adding Rocky’s whiskers (which is something I almost always forget) and adding texture to his long neck fur. This photo is actually a little dark compared to the original. Imagine the fur as white as in the previous image.
I was lucky enough to be able to complete this drawing while my mom was visiting me (which was just before I moved to Iowa). She was able to watch me draw and got to see me finish it. And I am proud to say that she absolutely loved it!
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My mom is doing well so far with her recent diagnosis. She is tired often but is keeping a positive attitude and living life as best as possible. It’s amazing how happy she is staying despite the adversity. She has been staying with my husband and I for the past couple of days. Here is a photo of her with Maya and Pierson.
Also, while she is here I have been drawing her beloved dog Rocky who passed away in January. This is what I have done so far. I should be finished with it later today. And around 2pm today, I will be taking her to the airport. She is going to Oregon to be with my sisters and brother and her numerous friends.
Before moving to Missouri a few years ago, my mom lived most of her life in Oregon and is excited about going back. After my stepdad is finished taking care of selling their belongings and property in Missouri, him and I are going to drive to Oregon with their dog Solo. I will be in Oregon with my mom for a couple of weeks or so. Don’t worry, I will still be taking care of business for PetAutoSafety.com.
My mom with Maya and Pierson. Pierson can sometimes be shy with strangers, but not my mom.
My mom’s beloved dog Rocky passed away in January. She wanted me to draw him for her so I have been working on this while she’s been visiting me.
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My friend only had a few photos of Zipper to draw from. This one is a bit dark, but it was the best I could work from.
First, I do some sketches. Zipper’s face isn’t quite right in this one, but the body looks right.
Since only Zipper’s head needed to be fixed, I redrew the head. The ears are a little bigger, the face isn’t as long, and there are a couple of other subtle differences.
When I felt I had all the shapes right, I did a final sketch and emailed it to my friend for her approval. She said it was perfect, so now for the next step…
I trace my sketch of Zipper onto pastel paper.
I always do the background of my art work first. I generally try to keep the background simple so as not to take away from the drawing of the dog. In this case, I chose green grass because I thought it would be a nice contrast to Zipper’s black and white coat.
The next thing I do is the hardest, and for me, also the most fun. I draw Zipper’s eyes, nose, and mouth. Because this is not just a portrait drawing, these parts are smaller, making it difficult for me to add detail. But it came out pretty good none-the-less.
Next, I add more detail to Zipper’s head. Trying to get the shading just right is difficult since the photo of Zipper is really dark. But knowing the shape of dog heads, I think I got this right.
Almost done! I’ve colored in Zippers body and begin to add shading.
Ta da! I emailed this to my friend and she absolutely loved it. She said it brought tears to her eyes. That, my friends, is one of the reasons I love to draw.
Visit the Wordless Wednesday blog hop below to see more great pics of pups and other pets:
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A friend of mine drew Pierson for me. Since he is such a pretty boy who likes to do tricks, she drew him in a fancy performing arts costume. Check out this wonderful art work:
I have finally finished drawing Thunder from 2BrownDawgs.com. I started this project months ago! I could give you all kinds of reasons why it took so long, but I don’t want to bore you. So let’s just get to the good stuff. I drew Thunder twice. I did this because I did not like how the first one came out so I wanted to try again. Honestly, I’m not happy with either one. Check them both out below and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism only. Also tell me which one you like best. I am especially interested in what 2BrownDawgs thinks. Hop on over to the 2BrownDawgs.com blog post on April 11, 2013 to see the original photo I drew from.
Background for the first artwork of Thunder.
The first completed artwork of Thunder.
The second background for drawing Thunder the dog. I like the background of this one much better.
The next step was drawing the duck in his mouth. This was very difficult because it was hard to see the details in the photo I was drawing from.
I am drawing Thunder’s head. It was difficult getting the detail in since it was so small. I’ m better at portrait drawings because I can see the whole face in great detail.
Now I start drawing Thunder’s body. I start with the darker areas. And I am using colored pencils this time instead of pastels.
The second completed drawing of Thunder the Dog.
I don’t think either artwork does the photo of Thunder justice. It was a fun challenge, though. I know my weakness is full body drawings. Getting detail is much more difficult.
I recorded myself drawing Thunder. I had this great idea of drawing Thunder along with the AC/DC song, Thunderstruck. But you’re not supposed to use music in your videos unless you get permission from the record company and recording label. Giving credit to them in the video is not enough. It is still a violation of copyright laws. Does anyone know of an easy and reliable way to get permission?
Remember the post where I showed photos of my work in progress when I drew Mos the dog? Now, I have it in video form. I recorded myself doing it, so you can see almost every pastel and pastel pencil stroke I made… and the back of my head.
Please, like my video and share it! My next video will hopefully be of me drawing Thunder from 2BrownDawgs.com!
If there is no music to the video, I apologize. When I downloaded the music, it said it was public domain, free for use. However, YouTube says it is disputed by a third party.
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This is my second art project from my May 29th post, Thunderous Pet Portraits. I finished drawing Deuce the cat last week. And yesterday I finished drawing Mos the dog. Below are photos from my work in progress. I also filmed myself drawing this. I had hoped to make a fast-forward video of my work in progress, but I have not figured out how to use my video editor yet. Anyway, enjoy the photos for now.
This is a photo of Mos, a rescued dog with a sweet face.
This is the final sketch I completed of Mos.
Step 1: Trace sketch onto pastel paper and complete a simple background.
Step 2: Draw the eyes in detail.
Close-up of the Eyes
Step 3: Draw the nose in detail.
Close-up of the Eyes and Nose
Step 4: Start coloring in the face.
Step 5: More of the face is colored in. This gives me an idea of colors and shading.
Step 6: I have added more color and smoothed out the pastels on Mos’ face.
The completed work of Mos the dog. Pastels by Dawn Ross, June 25th, 2013.
What do you think of Mos? He’s adorable, right? He is my aunt’s dog. She adopted him from the humane society some years ago.
Perhaps in the next couple of weeks, I will complete the third drawing from the sketches I showed you on the Thunderous Pet Portraits post. Keep checking in!
For more great pet photos, check out the link to the Wordless Wednesday blog hop below:
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Remember the sketches I did a few weeks ago? Well, I’ve finished the final art work of one of them. Check out Deuce!
This is a photo of Deuce the cat.
The final sketch of Deuce.
First, I trace my sketch onto pastel art paper and do the background.
Next, I do my most favorite part – the eyes! I have also included in the photo the colors of pastel pencils that I used to color the eyes.
Next is the nose. I have included the colors of pencils I used for the nose in this picture.
Then I start working on the cat’s body. I didn’t picture the pencils here but I used black, dark blue, light blue, grey, and white pencils.
The last part I need to work on is Deuce’s head. As you can see, I first did the white parts of his face. They I lay the background color, which is black.
Finished! Deuce the cat has been completed in pastel pencils by Dawn Ross on June 18th, 2013.
For more great pet photos, check out the link to the Wordless Wednesday blog hop below:
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I currently have three pet portraits going. Two are commission works and the other is one I asked to do because the photo was so inspiring. If you follow the dog blog of a three Chesapeake Bay Retrievers named after weather terminology and a large ship, then you know 2BrownDawgs.com. Go check out their site, then you will see why I was inspired to draw the following sketches:
Preliminary sketch of Thunder, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever.
My final sketch of Thunder before attempting to draw in color. (Can you hear AC/DCs song Thunderstruck playing in the background?)
Now check out the two commission pet portraits I am working on:
This is a photo of Deuce the cat.
The photo was at an angle I wasn’t happy with so I adjusted the angle and drew Deuce the cat from a more face-to-face angle.
The final sketch of Deuce is complete. I may need more photos to get the cat stripes right when I draw this in color.
This is a photo of Mos, a rescued dog with a sweet face.
The preliminary sketch of Mos.
This is the almost final sketch of Mos. I have another photo of Mos I can use to draw the ears better.
For more great pet photos, check out the Wordless Wednesday blog hop link below.
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I love these wonderful animated e-cards from Jacquie Lawson. If you have never seen these cards, you should definitely stop by her website and take a look. The cards are animated and often feature dogs like Chudleigh, cats, birds, and other animals. There is a card for every occasion!
The cards are not free to send but trust me when I say that the annual subscription is worth it. Jacquie has worked hard to make these wonderful cards and as a spectacular artist she deserves a contribution for her work. I love her cards and only wish I had even half the talent that she does.
American Dog Blog 