Animal Pencil Portraits

In March of 2008 I was approached by the UK Jersey Cattle Society who were looking for a new figurehead cow to use on merchandise and as part of an overhaul of their professional image. The Jersey is the second most prevalent dairy breed in the UK today.

This commission involved four portraits: one in pencil, two in coloured pencil, and an ink drawing. The society supplied me with two photo references representative of the breed today. I was immediately struck by the beautiful forms and colours of the animal!

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2. Coloured pencil portrait - full-body profile: this portrait was made on A4 finegrain watercolour paper using soft oily coloured pencils by Derwent. The slight texture and absorbancy of the paper helped with colour-blending and depth. Some smudging was used, although the main technique was a criss-crossing of coloured pencil lines.

3. Head-only coloured pencil portrait: in this first stage base colours have been laid down. The main colours used here are lichen green, cloud blue, orange, yellow, loganberry and indigo.

4. Head-only portrait - line drawing in ink: this portrait used fine-nibbed artists' pens. The challenge here was to work quickly with smooth lines while simplifying form and texture.

1. Pencil portrait - full-body profile: this portrait used a smooth Bristol paper and a 9b pencil. The soft pencil was blended with a cotton bud or tissue to create subtle shadows, and a putty rubber was gently applied to reproduce highlights. A sketchy grass effect at the bottom helped plant the animal on the ground and balance the composition.

Below are the first two completed pencil portraits. Each was drawn precisely from the relevant photo using the grid system explained on these pages: Creating Pet Portraits and Creating Pencil Portraits.

To buy a limited edition signed print of the full-body portrait in coloured pencil or pencil, plus other gifts featuring these designs, click here.

The artist would like to thank the Jersey Cattle Society for choosing her to undertake this artwork, and Jane Steel for allowing her photographs to be used.

In the second stage above, more colours and details have been added to the portrait. Building up colours by mixing recreates a realistic luminescence. This effect is augmented by accurate rendering of shadows.