Welcome to my pencil pet portrait of Poppy. My client Adam was lucky enough to have received one of my Gift Vouchers from his family. He wanted to send me photos of his dog Poppy, who had sadly passed away. Adam had a favourite photo of his of Poppy, which thankfully was perfect for a drawing and I was excited to put pencil to paper. Adam was thrilled with the results and telephoned me personally to thank me for the portrait. It’s also always wonderful to speak to my clients on the telephone.
Pencil Pet Portrait of Poppy – Magazine Article
So where does a magazine article come into this? I hear you asking!! I was asked to feature in an edition of the UK Magazine Paint and Draw. This was just prior to starting Poppy’s portrait. They wanted to know if I could create a step by step tutorial of how I draw my portraits. The prospect of having my artwork in print again was fantastic!
I asked Adam if I could use Poppy as the dog for the article. Poppy would make for an excellent subject for budding artists to learn from because of her mid length fur with white flecks and the leather collar. Poppy has lots of areas to discuss for the magazine article which was great. Adam was thrilled to hear that Poppy would have her very own 15 minutes of fame.
As a result the magazine article was a success and it came out in 2017. You can read about it on my blog post here – Paint & Draw Magazine Article.
Here are a few photos of my portrait close up with my pencils to show scale. I also hope that it shows the portrait in a more natural way too.
The paper i use is a Hot Pressed watercolour paper and you can see it has a small amount of texture. I love having a bit of texture, opposed to it being ultra smooth, just so the graphite has some grip when drawing.
You can also see the paper colour differs in the photos. The paper is a lovely off white colour, not at all grey as it shows in some of the photos. Lighting in the studio plays a big role in the overall colour scheme of the photos. It can be tricky to take photos, especially in the winter with low lighting.
Poppy Framed
Here is Poppy’s pencil portrait all framed and ready to go! This is a really lovely frame and the colours and warmth of the wood work well with pencil work. If you are looking for a frame to give a classic and classy look, choosing a frame like this will work so well. If you need any advice on framing, you are more than welcome to ask us any questions and we always suggest, if your chosen framer needs to ask anything, they can at any time.
Finally if you have a dog similar to Poppy that you feel would look beautiful as a pencil drawing, please let me know! I would love to see their photo. Drop me a line via my contact page or message via WhatsApp. If you have any questions please let me know. Also message me your photos!
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