'Smeagol' by JD
Are you a Tolkien fan by any chance JD? I think this golden retriever is far sweeter than Gollum ever was! JD began this WIP drawing with me in class a couple of years ago but has not had the chance to work on it further since then. She has used Eraldo Hot Press 300gsm pad paper with Faber Castell colour pencils and some Faber Castell graphite in 2H/B & 2B. This was the first time (as I recall) that JD had used colour and graphite pencils in this method and it is quite good, but JD feels it is lacking and has asked me what she could do to improve the work.
First I would like to say that this is a very good drawing in its' proportions. Placement on the page is good. The pose is endearing and the love in Smeagol's eyes shows. The paws are a bit unfinished and on the small side - but I will get to that. The eyes are well done. The shine and fur direction is very good and the nose, is pretty good too. This work has a lot of potentional and plenty of good points.
'Smeagol' by JD
So I took Smeagol into my paint program and played around with it. If I was working on this, the first thing I would do would be to increase the hues and values over all the work. Work back over all the linework and intensify the values. You can do this with more line, or a soft circular fill. If you use a fill you will lose the linework however so be careful where/how much fill you use. I would avoid using too much more graphite, but you could increase the shadows under the muzzle and around the forward paw somewhat. The forward paw is probably a bit small in size in relationship to the dog, but I would leave it as is apart from increasing the detail and colour work on it. The rear paw is distracting. I suggest carefully removing a lot of it so it gently fades off the page - it is still there but not so dominating. And add a little white highlight to the eyes - you may need a pastel pencil here - but it will make them glisten.
Remember, this 'tweak' is a down and dirty modification in 3D Paint just to give you direction - don't take it literally! It only shows you roughly what I am talking about.
'Smeagol' tweak by Linda
The Lesson by Rosalie
A charming drawing of a little daschund puppy being disciplined is Rosalie's piece this week. The poor little puppy is being told off for barking too much. Rosalie has caught the moment well, the owner's strong hands cradling the puppy as it is gently admonished by a tap on the nose. The puppy looks concerned, but not terrified as it is quite secure in the arms - but it darn well knows it has been naughty! Rosalie has used Statdler Mars B & 4B on Fabriano 300gsm Hot Press with a touch of carbon black in the eyes. As the fur on this pup is so short and velvety a paper stump has been used to good effect. Both of the hands are very well drawn and correctly in proportion. A lovely work.
I do have a couple of suggestions though. I think that the left arm has a bit of a plastic look to it and the tone needs to be evened out somewhat. As well, I would fade it off the page rather than running it to the edge as you have done. The cradling arm and could use some darker tone to suggest shade and form. And the pup could also use a bump in tone, darkening the shadow side, inside of ears and rump.
Again, these are just suggestions Rosalie - you have a good work here already.
'The Lesson' by Rosalie
Suggested tweaks by Linda (a bit blotchy but you get the drift)
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