The beginnings of a lovely wolf- or coyote-girl (she hasn't decided yet) in Victorian-inspired riding garb. I think she may be out hunting, we'll see.
This image really shows how I gradually build up layers of subtle texture with the ballpoint pen to develop shading. Everything begins with loose shapes and scribbles (often unintelligible to others) which then become a little more defined as I decide what lines to strengthen and emphasize and what ones will eventually blend into background. I then add in some very sparse crosshatching to suggest depth and determine the general light source for the image. The darker values are developed gradually; it is only very rarely that I will use full pressure of the pen to get a deep gray or black. Ballpoint pen, being the finicky creature that it is, will sometimes decide to randomly spurt out a little blob of ink, and usually I try to camouflage those by darkening a certain area more than I originally intended.
On another note, I wanted to draw attention to a great article which I discovered via Terri Windling's blog: The Value of Fantasy and Mythical Thinking.
Always a pleasure keeping up with you doings! I have linked to your online portfolio on my long over due website. Ok with you?
ReplyDeleteWith best wishes,
Ari Berk
www.ariberk.com
Thank you very much Ari, not just for the link but also for visiting!
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't know you started a drawing with ballpoint pen. No pencil at all? haha! I love seeing the process of an artist's creation. It helps to see the soul of the drawing. I really love how you do the shading on your drawings.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for pointing to the article, I really liked it and even asked for permission to translate it to Portuguese and post it on my blog.
=)
Carol
That's interesting the way you melded different features into the drawing.They could use you on a movie set.
ReplyDelete