One of my Christmas Commissions came from a lovely lady after a drawing of her fella with one of his best catches! Although I know nothing about carp fishing, I was pretty impressed by the size of the fish in the photographs! I’ve tried fishing in the past, just in a river and once or twice at the beach, and I’ve never caught anything much bigger than my hand (and I’ve got pretty small hands haha!)
Always willing to try new things, I told her I would give it a go and so I made a start….
The head gave me a false sense of security, I was really pleased with the outcome and thought the scales would be just as easy… Boy were the scales anything but easy! I love things to be even and online, of course nature is anything but, but despite following the scales as per the drawing, I wasn’t entirely happy with them. I spent hours shading and erasing and modifying until I was happy… The photo doesn’t do it justice sadly it looks rather contrasty here! Making a start on the clothing. I often find textiles difficult but I was so pleased with the wrinkles in the fabric, one of my most lifelike pieces of clothing! Almost there! Hands and upper body in place… The beanie was tricky but like the scales, I spent a bit of extra time on it and eventually it became much more lifelike! The face beginning to take shape!
Eventually I had a finished drawing, and before going further, got some feedback from the lady who commissioned it… I was given the go ahead to continue! Phew! *wipes brow*
Here is said drawing. Next to tackle was the background! The original photo was just long grass in the background, it was good in that as a photo, it didn’t detract from the subject, but as a drawing I felt it was rather bland. I suggested a background from another of the photos she had sent me, so with some artists licence, I set about the final stage… And here we go! The finished article! I rarely do backgrounds so it was a nice little change!
EJ Draws 