Saker Falcon drawing progress

Had a really productive day in the studio today and was able to crack on with this portrait.the head is now complete and i'm starting on the breast feathers,which,like the head feathers are off white in colour with chestnutty-brown markings.So far the falcon is looking quite pale but when the much darker wing feathers go in it will really stand out.i know these portrait style images of birds of prey have been done many times by many competent artists but i still thoroughly enjoy doing them and i think there's always room for another falcon drawing.

Watchful-giraffe mother and calf

just received a good quality scan of my last drawing,it's entitled Watchful-giraffe mother and calf.

Falcon portrait

This is the start of my latest drawing which will be a portrait of a Saker falcon.My fascination with detail has got the better of me with this one as i'll be attempting to portray all the feathers.the plumage of the saker with its white striped head and chestnutty coloured wing feathers is particularly handsome and this is one of the things that drew me to this bird as a subject.The rough drawing took some time to get right but it's now been transferred onto my prepared paper and as usual ive started on the background toning.So far ive worked the background up using layers of H,HB and B grade pencils and i'll try and keep it fairly light this time.this is a dark as i shall go at least for the moment untill ive got some tone on the bird.

My new website has arrived

I have been looking to build my own website for some time and i can announce that it's finally done and up and running.I was looking for a contemporary feel to the site without the awful clutter that you see on so many sites these days.The website draws together the various components of my art business with all my original drawings on display as well as links through to my greetings card collection,my limited edition prints and of course the blog here.A sort of one stop shop for all things clive meredith.I hope you'll find the time to have a look and of course i would appreciate any feedback you care to give on the site.the address is www.clivemeredithstudio.com

Giraffe and calf pencil drawing complete

As you can see this latest drawing is now complete.After completion of the calf i had a good look over the image as a whole and, as i thought i may have to,i darkened up and reinforced shadowed areas on both animals.This has served to bring the animals proximity to each other into clearer focus and bring more depth and life to the piece.i aim to close crop this one and have it framed up to emphasise the vertical format echoing the vertical nature of the subject!.it's been a little while since i drew an image with no background whatsoever but in this instance i think anything added would only serve to detract from the subject matter.

Giraffe and calf pencil drawing progression

More progress today on the calf's body,apart from the usual layering ive started to add some shadows to bring a bit more life into the piece.i will probably go darker still on these shadows but i'll hold off until ive got both animals complete and can judge the overall tones a little better.unfortunately yesterday i didnt manage to get back to the drawing board with a classic case of 'life' getting in the way and so the whole piece hasnt progressed quite as far as i'd of hoped.nonetheless another day's work should see this one complete.

Giraffe and calf pencil drawing

ive managed some good progress in the last couple of sessions in the studio.The head and neck of the baby are now almost complete,all thats needed is a little shadow and fur detail to be added.The markings have almost all been blocked in using an H grade pencil and will now be overlayed with HB and B grade pencils.I'll also be adding in some interesting shadows to lift the image.