Step by Step Fox Pup illustration

    The cycle of the changing seasons- twice a year the online natural history illustration 6 week course is offered by Newcastle University online. And every year it seems to come at just the wrong time, yet I manage to squeeze it in, partially because I really want to sit down and take the time to draw another animal for my collection. A project which takes a bit longer but is always worth the effort. This year, the timing was poor again, at the beginning... and then Corona virus hit, leaving us all at home. Many artist's seem to be doing excellent concentrated work at the moment, locked up blissfully in their studios for hours at a time. I on the other hand am scrambling to fulfill the whims of a thousand odd teachers, all of whom forget that their students are not only not bored but share computers and their days with others. They, in an effort to keep boredom at bay, and make sure that no student is left alone to get into trouble, and no parent to get on with their work, send out massive assignments that require parental supervision in one form or another. And as a result I have been getting even less accomplished than I had anticipated. Still, I was able to finish the course, (this was the fourth time), and draw my fox pup. Foxes are a favorite of one of my children and generally a good addition to the wild animal portraits I have done over the last two years.

For these detailed pieces I always work from photographs. Here are a few of the photos I printed off to use as references. After drawing the fox skeleton and doing several gesture sketches while watching a documentary, I started sketching poses to decide on the one I wanted to use for a full rendering (finished piece). My initial instinct had been to do the pup and after printing and sketching so many, I finally settled on the pup!

 I sketched an outline to define my proportions and then got to work on shading. My goal at this point was to establish a three dimensional form.

Once the form was defined I started on the fur. I worked from left to right as I am right handed. This helps keep the graphite from smearing across the page.

 I like to add the eyes about half way through. It seems to give life to the animal I am working on.

 I have heard a lot of differing opinions of what is a good accompaniment to drawing and painting. Some people like music, others listen to books, some prefer silence. I like everything. If I am working on a more detailed piece I will often watch a whole series on Netflix or listen to an audio book. This offers my mind something to chew on while my hands are busy.

 The following day I finished the rendering.

 Can you see the tongue sticking out? It threw the face a little off balance initially so I adjusted the cheeks to create a fuller, more balance look.

 
   The fox is now in the dining room opposite this lovely window where my salad plants are coming along nicely in the bottom halves of mineral water bottles. Prints will be available at some point in the future when my printer is open again.

Have you done any interesting, creative, more in depth projects while staying at home? I would love to hear about them.

If you enjoyed seeing this illustration develop you might also enjoy:

- Step by Step Wolf Illustration
 - Step by Step Grizzly Illustration
- Natural History Sketchbook tour
- Three Peppers Illustration
- Melodie of the Skies series


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