A more unusual graphite pencil portrait from photo of Kay and a koala bear she was lucky enough to meet on her trip to Australia, one of my more odd animal pet portraits!
This graphite pencil portrait is a people portrait and wildlife portrait, both of which are my least practiced subjects so is an ideal opportunity to try my hand at these subjects. I've done very little of either subject so it was with trepidation that I took this portrait on. The hardest part of a people portrait is to ensure a good likeness of the person is acheived. People portraits are much harder than pet portraits as every detail must be just so. You can 'almost' get it right on a pet portrait and the likeness is seen but with people any features slightly out is not acceptable, a nose too big or large, teeth not quite straight or hair too fluffy would all result in the portrait being rejected at worst or a miriad of corrections being undertaken. Hence I started this portrait on the left side to ensure I had the features correct before continuing with the koala bear. I usually start on the right side of the page to prevent smudging as I am left handed but decided against this so I did not have to start all over again if I made any mistakes. Thankfully I got it right first time and was really pleased at this stage.
This is when things got a little complicated. the bib worn by Kay when she held the koala bear was very patterned, quilted and textured, the worst combination, but once I started it, it really was not quite so bad at all. I photocopied Kay's colour photo in black and white and problem solved, it's difficult to tell how dark a colour is, the bib contained yellow, pink, blue and green, which is darker in black and white? Luckily the photocopy gave me the answer so on with the bib....
At this point I started on the kaola, it was very densly furry, I have drawn long fur and short but not dense fur and it did take some doing as each hair was only millimetres long and each had to be drawn in. It was a little laborious and proved longer to complete than Kay the person which did surprise me. This was also a subject I have never drawn before so I was quite excited to get on with it and I did find it a novelty and good practice fro my future venture into wildlife art.
And finally the completed portrait, this portrait ended up being quite unusual and I di really enjoy it. If you are interested in pencil pet portraits please visit the pencil pet portraits commission info page for further details
Graphite Pencil Portraits from Photos Animal Pet Portraits by Karie-Ann Cooper 
