Completed Feline Demo

 The Serval Cat

It was such a disjointed class year in 2021. However, we did manage to have several weeks finally towards the end of the year together. In spite of the long Covid break, I decided to continue with the exercise of drawing a feline (any type of cat) using a limited palette plus graphite.

This is a great exercise to try as it helps to break you of the habit of expecting to find an exact color match in your pencils which can be nearly impossible. It also teaches you how to create vibrant, exciting dark browns and blacks without resorting to the dull and flat browns and black in your set.

I have had a work on the go for a number of years now as a demonstration piece showing this technique. Over the years in various classes and workshops I have worked through bits of this serval- the eyes, ears, hair, etc. Now, at last, she has been completed and I am rather pleased with the final result. I used Staedtler Karat Watercolor pencils - the four used were: #63 blue, #16 yellow ochre, #49 dark yellow ochre and #222 peach. To create the grey tones Staedtler 2mm techno pencils in 2H, HB, 2B and 4B with assistance from an F 'woodie'. You can see some pencil testing scribbles on the bottom right of the work.

It's rather fun to see the range of color and tones you can achieve with a limited palette and greys!

The Serval Cat by Linda Weil ©

I bet some of you who were in my workshop 6 years ago never thought I would complete this one! lol.

Have a safe and happy New Year all - see you in 2022!