Tiger drawing update

Heres an update on my latest Tiger drawing which is progressing nicely.apologies for the photo quality but its just a quick snapshot in the new studio and the light has been all over the place today! As you can see its almost reached a point where I can make a start on the cats head,more updates next week!

New Tiger drawing

Ive now moved into my new studio building and whilst I'm still busy organising the internal layout and finding which one suits me best I have been able to get to grips with a project that's been on the back-burner for a few weeks now.This is a large portrait of a resting Bengal Tiger and will be approximately 24" x 36 when complete.It was a fabulous animal that I met whilst in the Far East in January of this year and I hope the completed image will be published as a limited edition print early next year.The whole reclining cat can be seen (just about) in the uppermost photo and below is a close-up shot of progress so far.Its been a while since I tackled a large pencil drawing and I imagine this one may take some time to complete but i'll keep posting the progress shots here.

Another studio visitor

I spotted a familiar face in the field outside my studio today.Grabbing my camera I took a few shots of this lovely Roebuck until after a while he worked out where I was after hearing my camera shutter.we played peek-a-boo in the rain for a while until I decided it was time to leave him to carry on munching in the field before I spooked him.He is the same Roebuck that I photographed behind my studio in late august but as you can see he has now adopted his autumn/winter grey livery as opposed to the chestnut colour of summer.glad to see him alive and well still,they tend not to live long when so close to the urban environment and this one already bears a few scars on his hindquarters as well as a limp probably caused by being clipped by a vehicle whilst running the gauntlet of the main roads around here.funnily enough I thought I must have some roe deer about the garden as all the flowers had been neatly cropped a few nights ago,nevermind,its a small price to pay to have such a beautiful creature nearby.

Wild dog pup 12" x 12" pencil

My pencil study of a wild dog pup is  now completed and is the first of the images produced as a result of encounters in Botswana in September this year.i wanted to record something quickly whilst the memory of the encounter with the wild dogs was fresh in my mind but a larger scale image,either in graphite or oils or both,will be completed at some point.he pups were left by the adult dogs whilst they went on a hunt and we observed the youngsters resting and dozing in the shade of a large tree for a couple of hours until eventually the rest of the pack turned up and after a frenzied greeting food was regurgitated for the pups before they all set of on an evening hunt.

Wild dog pup study underway

During my recent safari to Botswana I was lucky enough to encounter a pack of Wild dogs or painted dogs(which seems to be the latest trendy name for these animals) which included many pups.one of the highlights of my trip was spending many hours watching a group of pups who had been left to wait quietly in the shade whilst the adults were out on a hunting trip.eventually as we watched the adults returned and after a frenzied greeting proceeded to regurgitate food for the pups.once the pups had been fed and much to my surprise the whole pack set off for an evening hunt and we followed them until darkness fell.for this little study I'm using a heavier weight watercolour paper whilst I wait for delivery of my usual paper which means the paper is also a little rougher and therefore requires more work with the harder grades of graphite to flatten out the texture a little.

'Roebuck study' 18" x 11"

Completed my pencil drawing of the wonderful Roebuck who visited my garden a month or so ago.Over the years ive been asked on many occasions if ive drawn a Roebuck portrait or whether I have a print of one and as with all my images I don't draw them until ive been lucky enough to see one,preferably in its wild habitat and so I never had an image to offer clients.But when the Roebuck visited me at home I had my camera to hand and managed to get a few shots before the deer vanished as quickly as it had appeared,one of which ive posted above.And so at last ive been able to produce a drawing of a Roebuck which I hope in due course to be able to produce a limited edition print from.It is such a privilege to be able to get close to a wild animal,particularly one ive wanted to get a decent view of(rather than just a deer's bum disappearing rapidly in the opposite direction) and I'm so pleased that I managed to grab enough reference to produce a nice image.

Roebuck drawing progress

After a further days work in the studio my depiction of a Roebuck is almost complete.ive added several layers of graphite to its face and neck along with some fur detail to the face.