This is my sketch, ready for the painting demo on Tuesday. It took me roughly two hours all together to get this right (I'm hoping I have!) One of the main points I always stress when people ask about painting animals is that the initial drawing has to be as correct as it can be. Ther is no point in spending hours over your painting, using your brush and paints beautifully, if the underlying structure of the animal is completely wrong. I have see it time and time again in local exhibitions - and occasionally even some professional work - where there is something amiss with the anatomy of an animal, some skeletal fault in the drawing that has a huge knock-on effect on the rest of the painting. It's a shame to put so much work into a picture and have the creature look like it has been beaten round the head with a sledgehammer!
It is not necessary to sit and study books on anatomy, although that wouldn't hurt. My tip, such as it is, is to imagine you are actually touching the animal as you draw. If you think about when you pet your cat or dog, hopefully their skull is symetrical, with no untoward lumps and bumps sticking out. Their limbs have the same amount of joints and bend in a certain way; they have a ribcage which creates the whole shape of the torso. To get this basic anatomy incorrect will obviously make the finished painting incorrect. There's nothing worse than a wonky aninal!
So spending at least a couple of hours in preparing is time well spent. Hopefully this drawing will result in a decent painting at the end of Tuesday night!
2 comments:
I'm sure it will be a master piece as all your art and drawings are. :-) x x x
Good advice. Can't believe how much I missed on your blog! xo
Post a Comment