Just a quick update as I know it has been a while. I have been very busy the last few weeks starting a couple of new jobs, and unfortunately my drawing has had to take a backseat for the moment. I am hoping to continue work within the next few weeks and I will update you with more photos as I progress.
Caroline
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Progress Update: Moray Eel
I haven't updated my blog for a while as I have been working on my most recent drawing of a Dragon Moray Eel.
I chose the Dragon Moray partly because moray eels are one of my favourite animals in the Ocean, but also because it posed a new challenge for me - it is a lot more complicated than any of the drawings I've done so far. Unlike some eels, Dragons have very distinct markings for camouflage purposes, with stripes and spots all over the head and body. Whilst this would be easy to depict using paint, using only black ink combined with pointillism has created quite a challenge.
I started my drawing with a pencil outline in order to mark out the pattern and measure the specific proportions of the animal. Some artists prefer not to use an outline, but you should always go with what works for you as an individual artist.
From here I decided to start with the most distinct part of the eel - the head. The body of the eel has very few distinguishing features (in terms of anatomy) and so it is the head of the eel, with it's sharp teeth and menacing eyes, that hint at the potentially aggressive nature of the animal.
At this point I was finding it quite difficult to make the eel look 3D, so I started to work on the inner mouth. For me this was quite daunting as I knew that if this went wrong it would completely ruin the drawing.
This is the illustration in it's current state; the upper jaw still needs adjusting slightly, particularly to make the teeth stand out against the white background. However, putting in those darker tones has made a lot of difference already, allowing the lighter tones to jump out of the page in contrast to the darker areas. I will continue to work on this piece over the next week, taking photos of the progression, and reworking as required.
Check back soon for the finished piece!
Caroline
I chose the Dragon Moray partly because moray eels are one of my favourite animals in the Ocean, but also because it posed a new challenge for me - it is a lot more complicated than any of the drawings I've done so far. Unlike some eels, Dragons have very distinct markings for camouflage purposes, with stripes and spots all over the head and body. Whilst this would be easy to depict using paint, using only black ink combined with pointillism has created quite a challenge.
I started my drawing with a pencil outline in order to mark out the pattern and measure the specific proportions of the animal. Some artists prefer not to use an outline, but you should always go with what works for you as an individual artist.
From here I decided to start with the most distinct part of the eel - the head. The body of the eel has very few distinguishing features (in terms of anatomy) and so it is the head of the eel, with it's sharp teeth and menacing eyes, that hint at the potentially aggressive nature of the animal.
At this point I was finding it quite difficult to make the eel look 3D, so I started to work on the inner mouth. For me this was quite daunting as I knew that if this went wrong it would completely ruin the drawing.
This is the illustration in it's current state; the upper jaw still needs adjusting slightly, particularly to make the teeth stand out against the white background. However, putting in those darker tones has made a lot of difference already, allowing the lighter tones to jump out of the page in contrast to the darker areas. I will continue to work on this piece over the next week, taking photos of the progression, and reworking as required.
Check back soon for the finished piece!
Caroline
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)