NEW WIP........baby elephant

[Sandy]

I've wanted to draw an elephant for some time now and of course I would never see Africa or any other place with elephants except a zoo. Sooo I went searching online for a ref. photo and found one, I wrote to the photographer and asked for copyright permission and he was kind enough to give it to me!!!!!

So....here's the beginning, I have a LOT! of work to do.

Sandy

[oozoo]

This is off to a great start!! Very realistic wrinkles :clap:

[Denise]

Lovely Sandy! I'm gonna enjoy watching this!

[Sandy]

Thanks you two.........I got lots of work to do on this one :eek:

Sandy

[Sandy]

Small update.............:)

[Gemma]

Oh Sandy, this is really coming along wonderfully! Can't wait to see the progress.

Gemma

[Brenda]

It's looking wonderful, Sandy! That ear is terrific with those folds and wrinkles. Waiting for another update!

[PaintedHorses]

Wonderful! Looking forward to more.....

Jeri

[oozoo]

Still watching and smiling...

[Sandy]

Thank so much for the kind comments, at moments during the drawing I stop and think.....what have I gotten myself into!..lol lol lol.

Sandy

[Bob Ebdon]

WOW!!

[Brenda]

http://okrid.org/images/Emoticons/ditto.gif

Just amazing, Sandy!

[Judy Caudill]

Your work is absolutely amazing!

[Gemma]

Sandy, this is just wonderful! Wow!
Gemma

[Sandy]

Lol lol, thanks Bob & Gemma

Love the "Dito" sign Brenda

art-in-my-mind......you're very sweet to say so

Thanks everyone:bye1:

Sandy

[Arlene]

Sandy, he's looking wonderful. Just a few minor points. I circled areas where it appears you used line to define your edges instead of using your lights and darks to define the area.

In most cases, even when values are close together, our eyes will "fill in" missing parts, so it's really not necessary to outline.

[Sandy]

Arlene,

Is this better?, do I need to blend them out some more?, I didn't touch it around the eye yet...but all the others you pointed out I worked on.

Thanks for the help.......

Sandy

[alison2]

Sandy,

This is just amazing, I am so impressed! He's coming to life before our eyes. Makes me want to stroke him!

Alison

:droppedja

[Arlene]

better...here i showed you softening and lightening some of the lines...i feel the lines in his trunk and face need to be a bit softer and lighter too?

[Denise]

Sandy- he is just amazing! A real jawdropper! :clap: :clap:

[Sandy]

Okay........thanks a bunch Arlene, I'll work on them.

Thanks Denise.........this one's going to take a while.....lol

Sandy

[Sandy]

Update.........

[Angela]

:droppedja WOW. That's all I can say. Amazing!!

[Arlene]

hey this is really coming to life. Do you see the difference by not letting line define your shapes and how the eye fills in two areas close in values?

[Sandy]

Thanks everyone for your comments, I'm enjoying this one very much.

Yes Arlene and I didn't even realize I was doing it until you pointed it out. This will take some self correcting/training to learn how to be aware and concentrate on what I’m seeing and not my brain thinks it’s seeing……did that make since?...lol lol

Thanks for your help......:)

Sandy

[oozoo]

Great job!! Stunning detail!! But.....WHERE IS YOUR BACKGROUND MISTER??? (j/k) :D

[Sandy]

Lol lol lol lol lol.......oozoo I already know what kind of responce I'm going to get from this answer but I'm giving it anyway.....I DO IT LAST! :D Plus I'm not sure I'm going to give it one.

Sandy

[Arlene]

Thanks everyone for your comments, I'm enjoying this one very much.

Yes Arlene and I didn't even realize I was doing it until you pointed it out. This will take some self correcting/training to learn how to be aware and concentrate on what I’m seeing and not my brain thinks it’s seeing……did that make since?...lol lol

Thanks for your help......:)

Sandy

Sandy not only did it make perfect sense but I too have to fight the tendency all the time, too. We learn to draw first with line and it's something that seems ingrained in us.

[Arlene]

I DO IT LAST! :D Plus I'm not sure I'm going to give it one.

Sandy

WHAT????:judge: :judge: :judge:

i just assumed it wasn't going to have a bg!

[Sandy]

No....I had planned on no background the whole time and still do..... but it had entered my mind at one point of what it would look like if I did a very light grey starting at the bottom left and blending it up toward the upper right corner bleading it out leaving the upper right corner white where the light is coming from.

Now that I'm adding in the grass as I pictured it in my mind I'm very doubtful it will have a background.

Sandy

[Gemma]

This is really looking good, it looks like the elephant is going to walk right off of the page! Very nice.
Gemma

[Sandy]

Thanks Gemma...........:)

[Denise]

Just breathtaking!!!

[beth]

Oooh, glad I caught this, Sandy! I too have wanted to try an elephant but have no good reference photo. I even went to the San Diego zoo two weeks ago and still could not get a good shot. :mad: Very nice job on this one so far! I'm watching closely as usual. :D

[Cleo]

Great stuff Sandy !




Cleo

[bmac]

Wow this looks great. I just found this thread. I really do forget to check out the other forums. What do you mean this will take you along time? This seems to coming along pretty quickly! Good job!

[Sandy]

Thought I'd better post an update, I am at a point where I need to spray it with a light coat of workable fixative and thought I'd better see if you all find anything that's not too major that needs fixing first.

Thanks for all the comments and it's nice to see you back Beth.

Sandy

[Cleo]

Looks about done to me. :)



Cleo

[Bob Ebdon]

Looks stunning Sandy. The only thing I would do would be to work a few more highlights into the sunlit side - you have some great darks, but just a few more lights would be nice? But this again is nitpicking, it looks absolutely wonderful.

[Denise]

Sandy, it's wonderful! Just stunning!

Looking at the grassy part at his feet, to me the front (bottom) almost looks cut off. The grassy part makes a sort of oval shape behind the legs...to me it feels like it needs a little more up front in the same oval shape...not a complete oval but just a bit more tapered...does this make sense? Anyway, probably just me.....it certainly is amazing just like you have it though.... :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Brenda]

Beautiful, Sandy. The texture here is amazing. Great values! Like Bob said, perhaps a few more highlights. This is a piece of art of be proud of!

[lucky]

Really beautiful work!

[lene]

Hi Sandy
it is absolutely georgeous :clap: :clap:
how large and how long did you work on this ? .... worth every minute ;)

[Sandy]

Cleo, luckylurker & Brenda........thank you!

Bob, could you be spacific for me?, tell me what you're seeing......this way I can learn some of your expertise your work with light is wonderful. I would appreciate it a lot..:)

Denise.... I agree with you, I can only curve it slightly but I had planned on doing that.

lene.......I didn't keep exact count on the time but it was somewhere between 40 and 45 hours all together over 2 weeks time. (11 X 17 Strathmore Bristol Vellum)

Thank you
Sandy:bye1:

[CherylsArtBox]

You're almost there. Oh my gosh...what a excellent job! I'm sure the photographer will be delighted with the results of this work. Keep putting the "WOW" in your work. :)

[CherylsArtBox]

Okay, now I feel like an "idiot". Sorry!! Never made it to the final piece before I posted(my bad). Man, you really do "WOW" a person. Very pleased with the finished product!

[Meisie]

How did I miss this one? :confused:
Glad I found it though! Wonderful!

Meisie

[Angela]

This is beautiful. Looks done to me!

Such an amazing job with textures and values with graphite. Love it!

[Bill C]

Fabulous work! :clap: :clap: :clap:

can't help but wish for some more backround. :devil:

[beth]

Sandy, you did a wonderful job on this! I am really impressed with the grass, it looks very natural. I have a really hard time with grass and still haven't succeeded at it yet. Beautiful drawing all around.

Beth

[Traci]

Have been following - excellent work, love the light. Am curious, what pencils did you use?

[Lumosart]

I think my favorite part is the grass, because I know how hard that can be. His left ear looks exceptional as well.

[Sandy]

Thanks everyone for the comments and help.

Sorry Bill you're not getting a background:annoyed: ..........:D

Traci...I used a regular #2, Derwent 3B mainly on the grass & lighter areas of the elephant, Turquoise 7B & Woodless 9B for darks along with my blending stumps and neaded eraser.

Here's the finished piece

Thanks again Sandy :bye1:

[Denise]

phenominal, Sandy!

did you decide against adding to the front of the grass?

[Bob Ebdon]

Sandy, sorry I did post a message replying to your question, but it seems to have vanished, and I didn't check. Anyway, what you have done looks fabulous - just lightening the top and adding a few more darks around the rim has really brought more light into that ear. Great image!!:clap: :clap: :clap:

[lucky]

This turned out beautifully Sandy!

Really wonderful work!

~Lucky

[oozoo]

:clap: Great work again!!!

[Arlene]

Sandy, you did a fabulous job on this. He has really come to life.

I'm nit-picking here but the circled areas I'd soften the outlines.

[Gemma]

Absolutely Beautiful!!!:clap: :clap: :clap:

Gemma

[ArtWench]

Okay, so I'm the last one to check this one out... Always a day late & a dollar short! Anyway, Sandy, I just wanted to tell you that this piece is gorgeous! Did you send a scan of the completed rendering to the photographer?

[Rose]

Wow! :droppedja

[CindyH]

Amazing Sandy!!!! We have some awesome graphite artists in this forum :clap: :clap: :clap: Wonderful job :)

[Sandy]

Wow.......I've been away working lots of over time for the last two weeks and I was so suprised to come back and find all these new comments posted!!!

Thanks you guys......now I'll see what he does at the show, I entered him in the fair along with two other drawings and I slid him in just at the last moment...whew. :D

Sandy

[Sandy]

Just a note to let you all know that the elephant took 1st at the Fair this week.:D

Sandy

[Arlene]

Just a note to let you all know that the elephant took 1st at the Fair this week.:D

SandyWOO HOO!!!! wtg:clap: :clap: :clap:

[Meisie]

Yay Sandy!!! :clap:

Meisie

[Brenda]

That's fabulous news, Sandy!! Congratulations. We think you're a blue ribbon winner. Glad to see the judges agreed with us! :D:D

[Rose]

Sandy, AWESOME!!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Denise]

Congratulations Sandy!!!:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: